Babysitting
by ThirteenStrikes
Summary: Who wants to babysit Rachel? Not Cameron. And definitely not Thirteen.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: It's the week of midterms and what am I doing? Yeah, ridiculous, I know. I've been writing this on and off for a few weeks now. Yeah, stupid irresponsible college freshman... But I got this idea and couldn't resist. I swear I need to restrain myself sometimes. And yet... 'detox just to retox'. (Fall Out Boy)  
After finishing all my work this week, I'm gonna finally have time to catch up on all the House episodes I've missed. Olivia Wilde's back... OLIVIA WILDE IS BACK. What more can I say? She's so beautiful, it's ridiculous.

Disclaimer: I don't own House M.D. and its characters.

Okay. So here goes.

* * *

Chapter 1

The glass doors of Princeton Plainsboro slid open as the Dean of Medicine strutted in, head held high with an aura of determination that only a woman like her could muster. But like all the other mornings lately, she was followed by a limping man close behind.

"Do I _have _to go?" he whined.

"Yes. This is one of the most important conferences of the year! We are _required_ to attend."

They stopped next to the station at the lobby and turned to face each other. "No..." House droned. "_You_ are required to attend."

"Each hospital requires at least two representatives. So _you_ are coming _with _me."

"Take Wilson," he responded with a wave of his hand. "The man needs to get out sometime. Sheesh."

Cuddy sighed. "Unfortunately, people seem to have this crazy impression that Greg House is a brilliant genius..." she trailed off a bit. "And...your attendance was requested by a number of other doctors," she added with a bit of reluctance.

"Aw, how touching. Glad to see that I'm still popular in the world of medicine. I told you I had amazing bedside manner."

The woman cleared her throat and chose to completely ignore his previous statement. "We're leaving on Saturday, early in the morning. We have to be at the airport by 9, and we're returning to Princeton in the evening. I booked the plane tickets already."

"Although touched and very much flattered, I didn't say I planned to go."

"You. Are. Going." The look she was sending him told him that she was very serious, and that if he were to question her, she'd wave that "no sex" card in his face again. This seemed to be their usual routine nowadays. House squinted his eyes at her but remained quiet.

Cuddy then turned her heels and headed for her office, motioning for her boyfriend to follow. "I need you to help me find a babysitter for Rachel. I've tried to call the nanny but she's going to be out of town this weekend. I've been asking every other possible person I know but no one is available."

"Oh yeah, just let me check my phonebook. I'm sure I have pages of nannies's numbers... Is it okay if they're hookers by night?"

The dean rolled her eyes. "This is important. We need to find someone soon, or else _you _will have to stay and take care of her yourself."

A panicked expression flitted across House's face, before suggesting, "Wilson."

"I asked already. He's visiting family this weekend."

"Your secretary?"

"I'd prefer somebody I can trust who actually knows how to take care of a child."

"Cameron?"

At that thought, both of them paused. "She's perfect. Okay, I'm going ask her. But in the meantime, help me find other people. Cameron might not be available too." Cuddy set down her briefcase and began looking through files on her desk while House stood motionlessly there in the center of her office, watching her.

"Other people?"

"Yes. Other people you know who would be free on Saturday."

"The only other people I talk to are my team."

"Then ask your team," she shot back distractedly.

House's eyebrow shot up. "Do you even _know_ my team?" When he received no response from the busy woman, he continued. "A guy with a criminal record, a guy who has fidelity issues, and a dying bisexual." He watched as Cuddy looked up from her desk angrily.

"Don't you refer to Doctor Hadley like that. She's your employee, and a person, for that matter."

They paused for a moment, exchanging looks. "Sorry..." House apologized, bowing his head down. He hated apologizing. Rarely ever did, never really cared to. But with Cuddy he learned the long and hard way that sometimes, he just had to give in – even if it meant wounding his enormous ego.

"I actually think Doctor Hadley's another good choice. Go ask her if she's willing to take care of Rachel for a day."

"For some reason I'm getting this feeling that Thirteen would much rather spend her weekend at a bar."

"Go. Ask." She pushed him out of her office.

* * *

"Heart rate is back to normal. He's stable."

Doctor Cameron scribbled away on a patient's chart after recovering him from cardiac arrest. She then handed it off to a nurse and moved to the next bed where her attention was needed. That was how she often worked at the ER, going from patient to patient with barely a break in between, working hours and hours straight.

She was stitching up a bloody leg when she heard her name being called from behind. She turned and saw her boss waving her over at the nurse's station. After motioning for a nurse to take care of her patient, she wiped off her hands and approached the dean.

"Yes Doctor Cuddy, is there a problem?" She rarely came to the ER to find her, so Allison assumed that this must be urgent.

The dark haired woman seemed hesitant at first. "Cameron, are you busy this coming Saturday?"

The blonde ran her schedule and recent plans through her head. "Um...no, I don't think so. Why?"

"House and I need to attend the conference in D.C., and I haven't been able to find a babysitter for Rachel... I was wondering if you could do me a huge favor and watch her for a day."

"Umm... Well..." Cameron shrugged. The request was kind of out of the blue and unexpected. She mentally regretted answering so honestly to begin with. The truth was, she was very much looking forward to having a relaxing weekend with no disruptions of any kind. The long hours at the ER definitely wore her out.

Sensing her reluctance, Cuddy tried to persuade her. "Please. It's only for one Saturday. I'll give you a day off to make up for it – any day of your choice."

The ER head looked up at her boss, who's eyes were practically begging. She looked off to the side and thought for a while.

"...Alright. I'll do it."

Cuddy smiled gratefully. "Thank you so much for doing this Cameron."

"As long as I get a day off," she reminded with a small smile. "So...Saturday?"

"Yes. We're leaving in the morning, at around 8:30. It would be great if you could come a bit earlier."

"Sure." Cameron nodded.

* * *

"Lesbian!"

"How many times do I have to repeat myself and tell you that I am not a lesbian?"

"You still responded, didn't you?"

Thirteen growled in frustration and turned her head back to the magazine she was reading. Unfortunately, she was soon interrupted with a cane jabbing her leg repeatedly. "_What_?" she snapped irritably. If she had any other job, that tone would've gotten her fired. But working for House was different.

"What are you doing Saturday?"

At this, all three ducklings ceased whatever they were doing and looked up at their boss, very much interested in where this conversation was heading. "Why?" the brunette slowly asked, already suspicious.

"My girlfriend needs a babysitter for Rachel." Thirteen saw her colleagues snicker, but ignored them.

"Why don't _you_ watch her?"

"Because... Cuddy is dragging me with her to that boring conference in D.C."

The young woman connected the dots. "So now, you're asking me. And you thought I would do this...why?"

"Couldn't find anyone else. And I'm definitely not asking these two." The comment made them roll their eyes. Remy, however, fell silent.

"Is that a yes?"

Although she was secretly fond of kids, she would never admit that in front of her boss. She thought about it carefully. She really wouldn't mind doing Cuddy a favor – but she was just a little nervous about her abilities to take care of a child, and her boss's one at that. There was also the high possibility of her being hungover from the night before...and the fact that Saturdays were cherished as a chance to catch up on hours of sleep lost to this very job. "Anything in it for me?" she asked, not seeming too eager.

"I'll tell her to give you a day off."

"And by a day off, do you mean no calling me in the middle of the day asking for my opinion during a ddx?" she asked curiously.

House eyed her for a moment. "Yes."

Remy continued looking at her boss for a while longer, then returned to her magazine. "That was such a lie. But I'll take what I can get."

"Be at Cuddy's house Saturday morning. 8:30."

"Fine."

* * *

"Bastard!"

House was tapping away at his controller with his gaze locked intensely on the television screen.

"Watch it," Cuddy called from the bathroom.

"It's not like the kid's around," came his retort in a mumble.

Cuddy rolled her eyes as she blew dry her wet hair. "Oh, I forgot to tell you, Cameron agreed to babysit Rachel on Saturday," she shouted out to him.

On his video game, House narrowly avoided being shot at. In all his concentration, it took a while for his girlfriend's words to process. "What? Cameron?"

"Yes. She's coming over on Saturday to watch Rachel."

"I told Thirteen to come."

Cuddy turned off the hair dryer and walked out into the bedroom. "Remy said yes?" That was surprising, and a little puzzling.

"I told her she'd get a day off... Dammit! Get outta the way you little fuckers!"

"Well... I've got Cameron. So you can tell Thirteen tomorrow that she doesn't have to come over anymore."

"Uh huh... Yeah, sure." He repeatedly pressed several complicated combinations of buttons on the controller and... "Shit!"

* * *

- end of chapter -

Sooo...this was all just the set up - the framing for the main plot. Lots of fun to come, I promise.  
Oh, by the way, I've been meaning to share. I did a few Camteen screencap-comics a while back (I was bored over winter break...). If you're ever interested:  
www(dot)fanpop(dot)com/spots/cadley/links/18131706  
www(dot)fanpop(dot)com/spots/cadley/links/18165485

I know, I know. I'm such a dork.


	2. Chapter 2

Note: Rachel is slightly older. Say...about 3 and a half.

* * *

Chapter 2

At 8:15 that Saturday morning, someone came knocking at Cuddy's door. As she stood patiently waiting on the front porch, Cameron heard some rustling and people scurrying about on the inside. Eventually though, it was House who opened the door and greeted her.

"Nanny's here!" he announced over his shoulder. Cameron rolled her eyes and stepped over the threshold. "Good morning to you too, House."

She saw Cuddy rush out of a room at the end of the hallway, busy with putting on an earring. "Allison! Hi!"

"Good morning Doctor Cuddy."

"Please, we're off duty. Lisa is fine," she responded. "Thanks for coming in early. Here, I'll show you where everything is." Cameron followed her boss to the living room, and then to the kitchen, taking mental notes on where the important things were located. "Make sure she stays away from this... Don't give her any candy if she doesn't ask for it. And don't let her watch TV for too long..."

However, it wasn't long before another knock on the door was heard. House furrowed his brows in confusion, before widening his eyes in realization. He quickly opened the door to find Thirteen standing there, yawning, with a cup of coffee in her hand. "You're here," he said, astonished.

"No shit."

House grinned and let her in. By this time, Cuddy and Cameron had finished their quick tour around the house, and came walking back to the front door. "Thirteen? What are you doing here?"

Upon seeing Cameron, Remy looked at House with a puzzled expression on her face. That caused the other two women to look at him as well. The man threw his hands up in defense. "What?"

After a while, it was Cuddy who realized his mistake. "I told you to tell her that she didn't need to come because Cameron was available. You didn't tell her, didn't you."

House shrugged and rapidly searched his mind for a good reply. "Well...I don't see the problem with two babysitters..." he retorted. "You want your kid safe, don't you?"

Cuddy actually looked thoughtful as she considered his words. While she was thinking, Remy took the chance and slowly inched towards the door. "Okay, well. If I'm not needed anymore, I can go..."

"Wait!"

Remy sighed, a tad bit disappointed that her escape plan didn't quite work out.

"It _would_ be great if both of you could watch Rachel for me..." Cuddy began. With one adult, she was still feeling a little shaky about leaving her daughter with someone she wasn't familiar with for an entire day. But with two, she felt completely ensured that her baby would be well taken care of. And in all honesty, she knew that Rachel could get a little difficult at times. It was usually a challenge for someone inexperienced to deal with a child alone.

"Well..." Remy began, looking up at Cameron. They exchanged glances and saw that they both didn't really want to be there. It was Saturday morning for god's sake. They were supposed to be in bed still.

"I'm just really tired... I worked the late shift yesterday... I don't think I'll have the energy to – "

"_Actually_, Thirteen, I worked the late shift too, and I am just as tired as you are," the ER head interrupted. Oh, the nerve of Thirteen! Trying to make excuses and leave all this responsibility on her!

"Well, I just don't really see the logic of having two people watch one kid."

"Oh come on Thirty-One, it's not like you have anything else better to do on a Saturday..." remarked House with a smirk.

"Please Remy. It would mean a lot to me, and I'd feel more reassured to have two adults watch my child. I know Rachel can be a handful at times when I'm not around," Cuddy pleaded.

"Well, I'm sure Cameron would be able to handle Rachel herself..." Remy attempted to persuade them to let her off the hook.

"Hey, that's not very fair, _Thirteen_,"Cameron interjected again. She was getting slightly annoyed by her colleague. "Maybe _you_ could stay and watch Rachel."

"Please. I'm giving you two a day off as compensation," Cuddy reminded them. She checked the time and silently hoped that her two employees would relent.

"And I'm giving you two a free night at a hotel room," House added. "With a queen-sized bed." He winked at both of them exaggeratedly. All three women rolled their eyes. Cuddy then looked at the two younger women, silently asking. Thirteen let her gaze settle on Cameron, and neither of them said a thing.

Cuddy checked her watch again and sighed. "We have to go. Cameron, you know where most of everything is. If you need anything, or if something happens, call. Make sure to have her in bed by nine the latest. We'll be back probably by ten." She put on her coat and grabbed her purse. "Rachel! Mommy has to leave now!"

A moment later, the distinct sound of footsteps padding on a wooden floor gradually got louder, and all four adults watched as a little girl with brown hair sprinted out from her room and straight to Cuddy, giving her a hug. Her mother gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Okay baby, this is Auntie Allison and Auntie Remy." Upon hearing that, Thirteen cringed with distaste. Cameron noticed the reaction and snickered to herself.

Following her mother's finger pointing at the two women, the little girl looked up at them shyly. "They're gonna be taking care of you today, okay? Mommy and House will be back tonight. So you be a good girl for mommy, okay?" Cuddy waited until Rachel responded with a nod. "Listen to whatever Auntie Allison and Remy says." At this, Rachel took another glance at them, still very reluctant to let go of Cuddy. "You have fun with them, okay? Show them your room and your toys and teach them how to play games, okay? Mommy has to go now. I'll see you later." She gave her daughter one last kiss before stepping out the door.

House followed right behind her. "Bye kiddo. Behave." He pointed his cane at her, wearing a strict expression on his face. Rachel smiled in response, and waved to them. "Bye bye mommy. Bye bye House."

Cuddy and House got in the car and drove out of the driveway. Looking back at the three of them standing at the door, House could've sworn he saw the child with a devilish grin on her face.

_'Good luck girls...'_ He thought.

* * *

As soon as they left and shut the door behind them, Cameron and Thirteen looked down at Rachel, who was now sporting an incredibly mischievous look on her face. The blonde cleared her throat and kneeled down so that she was eye-level with the child. "So Rachel. What do you want to do?"

The girl thought for a while, then shouted really loud, startling the two women. "Let's play with my dolls!" She took off, sprinting back to her bedroom. Cameron was about to follow when she noticed Remy standing still. She turned back around, a questioning look on her face.

"Oh no. You're not thinking of leaving are you?"

"No. I've already decided to." The brunette made a move for the door.

"Thirteen!" Cameron instantly grabbed her arm. "You – are staying."

"No... I am _leaving._"

"I'm going to tell Cuddy."

"So?"

"..." Cameron paused for a moment, searching for things she could say that could potentially work on her colleague. No such luck though. "You can't leave."

"Why not?"

"You need to stay and help me."

"Cameron, you are a responsible adult, a highly qualified and experienced doctor, fully capable of looking after a child. I'm pretty sure you can manage..." Something behind the blonde momentarily distracted Remy, and she couldn't even finish her sentence. Cameron spun around to see Rachel running out of her room wildly with her hands covered in what seemed to be green paint.

"RACHEL!"

As soon as the initial shock wore off, the two of them immediately chased after the little tyke, trying to catch her before she got paint on anything. After a couple of minutes of running around the living room and circling the dining table, Remy finally caught the kid and managed to keep her hands still.

"No. That is _not_ how you play with paint," Thirteen scolded gently. She frowned when the only response she got was a giggle and an attempt to wriggle out of her firm grip. Remy brought Rachel to the bathroom to have her hands washed, while Cameron grabbed a wet towel and cleaned up any paint that the child had got on the furniture. She silently thanked any god or buddha out there that it was water-based. After everything was wiped down, she went into the bathroom to check on the brunette's progress.

"If you do that again, I'm going to take away paint," she heard Remy warn her. "So behave, okay? You listen to... uh... Auntie Allison now." She carried her off the counter and set her on the floor. The two women stepped out into the hall and watched warily as Rachel casually walked back to her bedroom as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

As soon as the child was out of sight, Thirteen sighed. "Well. That's that." She picked her coffee back up and started to walk to the door. What she didn't expect was for it to become blocked by a very upset-looking blonde.

"You. Stay."

"Yeah, very convincing. Problem is... I'm fucking exhausted."

"Language," Cameron warned with a finger held up at her. "And so what? I'm just as tired as you are. Look, we're doing a favor for our boss. Don't you have any moral obligation at all? Or at least stay as a favor to me," she tried to convince her.

"Hmm... laying in bed all day, versus babysitting all day... Lemme think..." Thirteen acted as if she was seriously giving it a consideration. "You know what, I think I'll have to pass on the babysitting."

"Fine, if you leave, I'm leaving too," Cameron challenged. Unfortunately for her, Thirteen was completely unfazed by this lame attempt of a threat.

"Yeah right you would. The whole world knows that you care too much."

They exchanged knowing glances. Cameron decided then, as she saw a subtle smirk form on Remy's face, that she hated her reputation at the hospital. She sighed frustratedly and crossed her arms. "Why are you being so difficult...? Even charting is worse than this."

"Hmm." Thirteen took a long sip of her decaf as an idea came to mind. "How about making a deal. I'll stay and you do House's charts for a month."

"A month? No way. That's not worth it."

"Alright then, I'm going. See ya."

Seeing her reach for the doorknob panicked Cameron. "Two weeks."

"Three."

"…"

"…"

They stared at each other with narrow eyes, waiting for the other to cave.

"FINE."

Thirteen almost broke into a grin as a surge of satisfaction filled her.

* * *

After the agreement was made, the two doctors headed for Rachel's room to see what she was up to, and to make sure she wasn't doing anything Cuddy wouldn't want her child to be doing. They took one step into the bedroom and were rendered speechless. Books were swept off of the shelf and scattered all over the floor, which was covered with what seemed like every toy that the girl owned.

"RACHEL!" Cameron and Thirteen yelled simultaneously.

The girl giggled and chucked a soccer ball at Remy, which landed right on her stomach. "Ooof!" It knocked the wind out of her for a split second. She furrowed her brows in anger. "You little..." But Rachel sprinted out of the room before another word was said.

"I'll get her!" Cameron shouted over her shoulder as she ran out the room too. This left Remy to clean up the mess in the room. She heaved a sigh. God this was going to be a long day.

* * *

- end of chapter -

Oh Remy... So manipulative.


	3. Chapter 3

This one is for all my awesome readers. :) You know that your reviews are the only things that motivate me to write, don't you?

* * *

Chapter 3

When everything in the bedroom was finally put back in order, Remy walked into the living room to find Allison distracting the little girl with magazines and newspapers they found on the coffee table. The blonde was concentrating on folding the paper into planes and boats, but all Rachel seemed to be doing was ripping it all up. Thirteen fell back into the sofa tiredly and watched as Cameron tried to stop the child from tearing up all the paper. Of course it was to no avail.

"Here Rachel, let me show you how to fold a crane," the older doctor suggested. She remained patient with the young child.

"What's that?" Rachel asked as she watched curiously.

"It's a type of bird."

"You're making a birdy?"

"Yes, sweetie. Look." She carefully made folds on the paper she had. However, on the fifth or sixth step, she was interrupted by Thirteen.

"You did it wrong."

Cameron looked up, then examined the shape of her paper in her hands. "No I didn't."

"You're supposed to fold it inwards, not outwards."

"No, I'm pretty sure this is how you do it."

"And I'm pretty sure that's _not_ how you do it."

"Well, fine. If you're the origami expert here, then why don't _you_ fold it?" Allison retorted irritatedly.

"Fine, I will. Hand it over."

"Get your own newspaper."

"Jesus, just give it to me."

"No. Fold your own."

"Cameron, will you just give me a damn piece of paper?"

"Do you always curse in front of children? Because I think that–" Allison took a glance up to see what Rachel was doing but found her gone. When she turned and looked around the room to locate the child, her heart almost leaped out of her chest. The girl was halfway up a bookshelf at the other side of the living room. Cameron jumped up and sprinted over, managing to make it in time just as Rachel lost her grip. Remy watched from the couch with her jaw slack and eyes as wide as saucers. "My God..."

"Rachel," Cameron called to grab her attention. She crouched down and searched until she had eye contact with the troublesome child. "Baby, listen to Auntie Allie. That was very, _very_ dangerous, okay? If you fall, you'll get really hurt and we'll have to bring you to the hospital. And you don't want that to happen. So tell me you'll never climb that shelf again."

It took a while, but she eventually responded. "Mmmkay..."

"Tell me. Say, Auntie Allie, I will never do that again."

"...Auntie Allie... I will never...do that...again..."

"Good girl. Now let's clean up our mess over here..."

As soon as Cameron released her grip on her, Rachel ran over to this large pile of paper she ripped and kicked it, sending the torn pieces flying all over the floor. The blonde covered her face with her hand in exasperation.

"Rachel!" Thirteen ran out of the living room after the child.

All Cameron could do was shake her head and grab the broom to clean up.

* * *

She found them back in the bedroom, playing with legos. After a few minutes of attempted gentle scolding, Remy sat Rachel down on her little play table and took a couple of pieces out of the box for her to build things with. The brunette was sitting on one of the adjacent kiddy stools, her cynical blue eyes glued to the child in order monitor her every move.

"Tell Auntie Allie that you're sorry and that you'll never make a mess again," Thirteen urged.

The kid continued concentrating on her legos. "Sorry Auntie Allie... I'll never make mess again." She didn't even look up. The two adults sighed, deciding that it was good enough of an apology for now.

"So what are you making?" Cameron asked as she sat down on another stool next to Remy.

"A city," Rachel replied.

All three of them then diverted their attention to creating colorful buildings and structures with the legos. For once, the trouble child was sitting still. It was a major relief.

However, just because they didn't have anymore problems with the girl, didn't guarantee the lack of problem between the two doctors in the room. At one point, both Remy and Allison reached for the same piece, and their hands crashed into each other's.

"Hey!"

Being as quick as she was, Remy took the opportunity of Cameron getting distracted for a second to immediately snatch the lego. She didn't even have to look up to see the displeased expression on the blonde's face. "I needed that."

"Get another one."

"I needed a piece with an eye. That was the only one left."

"Well, too bad."

Cameron looked over at what Thirteen was doing. "You're making a car! You don't even need that piece!"

"Yes, I do."

"No. You don't."

"_Yes_, I do, _Allison_."

"Cars don't have eyes, _Remy._"

She scoffed. "Are you discriminating against cars? Just because they're non-living objects doesn't mean we can't choose to personify them."

Cameron rolled her eyes. "I'm making a robot. Robots need eyes."

"Actually..." Thirteen stopped what she was doing and looked up. "...By definition, a 'robot' is a programmable machine capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. Now this could be something like a household appliance, such as a blender, which – the last time I checked – doesn't have any eyes."

"Smart ass," Allison mumbled under her breath as she begrudgingly picked up a blank piece of lego instead.

"Language," Remy mirrored her earlier remark.

Cameron subtly kicked her in the shin.

"MOTHERF...pearl...!"

Rachel looked up at them with furrowed brows. "Auntie Remy, what's that s'posed ta mean?"

"Nothing dear. Play with your legos," Cameron quickly responded. The two women glared at each other one more time before resuming with their activity.

Eventually, Rachel was done and very much satisfied with the city she built. "Finished!" she announced to the room.

"Wow!"

"Good job Rach!"

The adults admired the handiwork and praised the child. However...what they didn't expect was for Rachel to put on a dinosaur mask and start destroying the lego city she made.

"Rawr rawr rawr! T-Rex attack!" She knocked over the buildings and kicked some of the blocks of legos, scattering the pieces all over the bedroom.

"Rachel!"

"Rachel, stop!"

Thirteen got ahold of her shoulders to keep her from moving, and when the girl's flailing legs almost kicked her in the stomach, Cameron held those down as well. They exchanged a look of distress.

"Rachel, baby. That was not very nice," Cameron began slowly.

"I don' wanna play legos anymore. So I destroy it," she replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Well, sweetie, maybe next time you could take it apart, instead of kicking it. Okay?" Remy suggested. It took a while before she replied with a half-hearted 'okay'.

"Alright, now let's clean up your legos."

The moment they released her, she ran over to the huge box of legos, still half full, and began to pull it to the edge of the table. "Oh no..."

"Rachel... Now don't be silly. I thought you were done with the legos? It's time to put them away."

"Rachel, don't do that... I'm warning you. Don't–"

She tipped the box over and the rest of the legos crashed onto the floor noisily. Now, there was a sea of colorful pieces of lego in the middle of the room. "Alright, see now we've got to put everything back inside, okay sweetie?"

The little girl grinned and then bolted out of the bedroom.

"Rachel!"

"I swear to every god on this damn planet, I am going to..." Thirteen's words became a jumble of consonants and vowels as she stormed out of the room after Cuddy's daughter. Cameron sighed and began scooping up legos with her hands, dropping them back into the box.

* * *

Within the next hour, the three girls found themselves sprawled on the floor of Rachel's bedroom, laboring over a 500-piece "Finding Nemo" puzzle. They taught the child how to start it off easily by first doing the border. Both Cameron and Remy initially approached the activity with confidence, planning to give hints to Rachel in order to help her put together most of it. However...neither expected it to turn out to be so difficult.

"Stupid fish," cursed Thirteen quietly to herself as she stared hopelessly at a pile of orange puzzle pieces. They got most of Dory, but Marlin and Nemo were getting kind of mixed up – they barely knew which was which. The brunette gave it a couple more minutes, before her patience finally ran out. "Alright, I'm done with this." She pushed her pieces towards Cameron as an indicator for her to continue.

Allison looked over and examined what she's gotten done. "Remy, these two don't even fit together."

"Yes they do."

"No, they don't. You just forced them together."

"They're the same color, aren't they," came a sharp retort.

A sigh. "Sometimes, I feel like I'm babysitting two kids."

The both of them rolled their eyes at each other, then glanced over at Rachel to see how she was doing. It turned out that she was getting just as frustrated as the two adults. The only difference was that she acted on releasing this frustration. The little girl threw down the pieces violently and made to grab the box. Luckily, Thirteen and Cameron had anticipated this.

"Rachel, honey. It's okay. This one's a little too hard. Maybe we'll try something easier next time."

"Rach, set it down so we can put the pieces back in the box okay?"

"Rachel!" They called when they saw her tilting the box. "Rachel, if you make a mess again, you won't get pb and j for lunch," Cameron warned.

Fortunately, that seemed to work. The girl ceased in her actions and behaved. "Alright, now let's clean up and then we'll grab something to eat. Okay?"

"Okay!"

"Good girl."

After returning all the pieces back in the box, they went into the kitchen to make lunch. Thirteen sat Rachel down on her highchair and handed her a stuffed toy she found nearby to distract her while she went to help Cameron. They made sandwiches and poured drinks for all three of them. It was a quick but messy lunch. Rachel, with her amazing skills as a three-and-a-half-year-old, got peanut butter and jam all over her face and her shirt.

"You go clean her up, I'll do the dishes," Remy said, picking up the plates eagerly.

"No, it's okay. _I'll_ do the dishes," Cameron picked up all the cups.

"_Allison._"

"_Remy._"

"I think you should get Rachel cleaned up."

"I think _you_ should do it, Thirteen. Right, sweetie?" The blonde looked over at the kid, who was busy licking jam off her fingers.

"Rock, paper, scissors."

"Fine." They held their fists up and mentally prepared themselves, looking into each other's eyes as if trying to decipher what the other would choose to throw.

"On three – one...two...three!"

Cameron: paper, Thirteen: rock.

"Dammit!"

* * *

After changing Rachel into a fresh set of clothes, and having wiped off all the sticky mess on her face and hands, Remy went to the bathroom to freshen up and catch a break. Only half of the day had gone by and she already felt worn out. As she was splashing cold water onto her face, she heard the bathroom door creak open. Rachel.

"Hi Rach. What's up?"

She grew a little concerned when she saw the the kid was looking for something intently. It could only mean that she was up to no good. And how right she was.

In one swift movement, Rachel grabbed the end of the toilet paper roll and sprinted out the door with it.

"Rachel!" Thirteen quickly held onto the roll on the holder, tearing off the piece that the naughty child ran away with.

Very soon, she heard Cameron's stern voice calling the girl, no doubt trying to get her to stop running around the house. Remy inhaled and exhaled deeply a few times before allowing herself to leave the bathroom to catch the little tyke. When she walked out to the living room, she found no one there. "Cam? Allison?" She walked into the kitchen, and when she looked out the window, she saw them.

"Rem! A little help here!"

Thirteen stepped into the back yard to see Rachel running around and around, with her new change of clothes all covered in mud. Cameron, very unsure of how she could get the kid to calm down, was vacillating between wanting to catch her and wanting to keep herself mud-free. She was leaning more towards the latter as she watched Rachel plop her bum on the ground and scoop up some soil in her hands.

"Ew," the brunette deadpanned.

"Rachel, you're getting all dirty! Get up from the ground!" Cameron demanded, hands akimbo on her waist. The child deliberately avoided eye contact and pretended to be oblivious.

"Rachel," Cameron tried again. "Auntie Remy's gonna get mad." The blonde turned to Thirteen and tilted her head subtly. Taking the hint, Remy crossed her arms and put on a serious expression. "Rach, get off the ground." It wasn't a scary voice – she didn't yell or anything. But because it was so controlled, because the look on her face was so unamused, Rachel felt a little scared, and so, obliged.

"Good girl. Now get back inside so Auntie Allie can give you a bath." She turned around and shot Allison a fleeting smirk.

Cameron sighed – it seemed like she had been doing a lot of that today. "Come on sweetie..." She held out her hand and took Rachel's dirty one, leading her inside and into the bathroom.

* * *

- end of chapter -

Note: definition of "robot" was taken from the "New Oxford American Dictionary" on my mac...  
But yeah, Thirteen totally deserved that kick in the shin.

Let me know what you think. More reviews _might_ lead to faster updates. :D


	4. Chapter 4

Guess what. The reviews made me happy. As a result, here is another chapter.

* * *

Chapter 4

The rest of the afternoon was filled with playing toys and games, jumping from one to the other as soon as Rachel's short attention span kicked in. The room was pretty much a mess again, but the two adults learned to let it be, since Rachel was likely to throw everything on the floor once more after they cleaned up.

"Hah!" The child, now wearing a tiara, had a plastic sword in her hand and thrusted it towards Remy's stomach. They were in the middle of playing an adventure game, where Thirteen was assigned to be the bad pirate, Rachel the princess, and Cameron her assistant. The brunette doctor was wearing an eyepatch and a captain's hat, which she had initially refused to put on until she saw the little girl almost breaking out into tears. After agreeing, Remy was enthusiastically given a little plastic dagger, significantly smaller and flimsier than Rachel's sword.

The duo of brunettes rounded the room, facing each other with narrowed eyes. "Hah!" Rachel tried to strike again, but Remy dodged with a fluid movement of her body. No way in hell was she gonna stand still and let this kid leave a bruise on her.

"Gimme back my treasure!" Rachel yelled.

"You'll have to catch me first!" Being as swift as she was, Remy knew the kid would never get to her.

"Auntie Allie! Help!"

Thirteen met Cameron's gaze for a moment and widened her eyes at the sight of her approaching. "Hey, two against one, that's not fair!"

When Allison tried to grab her arm, Remy sprinted over to the other side of the room, deftly jumping over toys. "Ha!"

The next couple of minutes were spent chasing after Thirteen and trying to catch her. At one point, Cameron took the opportunity of having Rachel distract her for a second, and snuck up on the younger woman from behind. Unfortunately, just as she was about to tackle her, Allison lost her footing and slipped on a couple of marbles. Remy turned around just in time to see the blonde fall over on her ass.

After three seconds of standing in silent awe, Thirteen and Rachel bursted into uncontrollable laughter. Cameron blushed intensely and tried to get up, but the marbles were making it hard. "Shut up..." she muttered to Thirteen, who was still cracking up. She had to admit though, it was pretty funny.

Remy eventually walked over and held out both hands. Allison gratefully took them and pulled herself back up. "Thanks." The whole situation had them smiling at each other. Cameron noticed Thirteen's hand linger in hers for a while, before watching her take a step back.

"Auntie Remy, I got your sword!" Rachel shouted tauntingly as she waved the fake dagger in her previously unoccupied hand.

"Hey, give that back!" Thirteen called playfully. The child giggled and then ran out of the room. "Uh oh." The two adults quickly followed suit.

They ended up in the living room. "I gots your sword, I gots your sword!" Rachel sang, running clumsily around the coffee table. It was flailing about in her tiny hand.

"Hey Rach, careful with that..." Allison warned.

"Come an' get it!"

Getting too caught up in her overexcitement, Rachel spun around and accidentally bumped into a nearby shelf. Its contents wavered...and a very expensive-looking glass vase was rocking back and forth...back and forth... until it finally tipped over the edge. On reflex, Thirteen jumped and caught the vessel in mid-air, landing painfully with an "Oof!" on the floor.

"Got it..." she murmured, wincing slightly from her newly formed bruises.

"Oh my god..." Cameron quickly ran over to her side and took the vase, replacing it on the shelf. She then returned to help Remy up. "The was a hell of a catch. Impressive."

"Played softball in high-school," Thirteen replied brushing herself off. "Rachel..." She held out a scolding finger. "Next time... Be. _Careful. _Your mommy would've been _really_ mad if she found out that you broke something."

"So are you going to _promise_ to be more careful, sweetie?" Cameron prompted.

"Yes, Auntie Allie... Yes Auntie Remy..."

"Good girl."

"Now let's get back to the room."

* * *

Several tantrums and three-and-a-half games of _Candyland_ later – three-and-a-half because at one point, Cameron caught Thirteen cheating, and it took five minutes of arguing and insisting that they start over for the younger doctor to relent – anyway, after much playing and bickering, it was about time for dinner. After having figured out a strategy, they sat Rachel in front of the television and flipped to a children's cartoon channel. It was probably the only thing that could entertain her and keep her still. The two doctors have decided to call the TV their secret weapon.

In the kitchen, Cameron and Thirteen were preparing pasta. The blonde was in the process of measuring and boiling some spaghetti, while Remy took on the job of chopping up onions for the marinara sauce.

"There's an easier way, you know," Allison commented amusedly when she looked over. Thirteen only shrugged in reply, continuing without a change in her approach.

"Look, here, I can show you..."

"No, it's _fine_. I_ got _it."

"Look, just do it this way." Cameron grabbed another knife and began cutting.

"That's what I've been doing!"

"_No..._ You've been cutting it entirely different!"

"Okay, you know what? It doesn't even matter." She put down the knife and stepped back with her hands held up. "You cook." Without another word, Thirteen began grabbing plates and silverware from the cupboard and went to set the table. When she was done, she plopped down on the couch next to Rachel to watch cartoons with her.

Allison sighed as she stirred the sauce over the stove. How hard was it for two doctors to get along for one day? There was something about being with Thirteen that just made things so...difficult. And it was hard to place a finger on this certain restlessness between them.

It was a little unclear where their head-butting all started. They've worked on one or two cases together in the past, and have remained somewhat cordial to one another – well, as cordial as colleagues working in different departments get. It wasn't that they _loathed _each other or anything. The matter of Thirteen being Cameron's "replacement" was never openly discussed between them, even though they both have had thoughts about it. In fact, all Allison ever talked to the brunette about were patients and files and charts. They've been acquaintances for a couple of years now, and still they haven't had one conversation that went past "How was your day". Why they never thought of getting to know one another was definitely a mystery. They just never did, and since circumstances didn't exactly push them together, they never even tried.

Cameron tasted the marina sauce and then added some salt and pepper to enhance the flavor. While continuing to cook in contemplation, she looked over her shoulder and glanced at the two brunettes in the living room. Getting along with Thirteen was probably just as hard as taking care of Rachel.

* * *

Moments later, a large bowl of spaghetti was set on the dining table, along with a plate of toasted garlic bread. Simple and uncomplicated, very much unlike how the rest of the day had been.

"Dinner's ready!"

As soon as those words left her mouth, Allison froze in place. My god she sounded like a mom. When Remy walked into the dining room with Rachel in her arms, she looked at the blonde with her eyebrows raised. She didn't comment though as she sat the kid down on a highchair at the end of the table.

"Shpugettiii!" Rachel squealed delightedly. All that work and running around the entire day definitely worked up an appetite. She eyed the food hungrily.

Cameron put some spaghetti in Rachel's little plastic bowl and Thirteen handed her a small fork. "Here you go sweetie."

"Yum, yum yum!" The child didn't hesitate to dig in – and neither did the two adults. Chasing a kid around the whole day made them hungry too.

All throughout dinner, Remy and Allison moved back and forth from eating their own food and helping Rachel eat hers. However, despite their best efforts, by the time their meal was finished, the little girl had spaghetti sauce all over.

"Oh dear..." murmured Cameron as she pulled a string of spaghetti off Rachel's head.

"It's as if she was eating with her face," Thirteen remarked.

"You give her a bath. I'll do the dishes," the blonde suggested. When the younger woman shot her a displeased look, she answered, "Hey, I cleaned her up last time, remember? It's your turn."

"Alright, alright... C'mon kiddo." And she carried the messy child off to the bathroom.

* * *

When Cameron was all done with the dishes and had everything in the kitchen all tidied up, she heard shouts and yells coming from the bathroom. "Oh boy." She made her way to find the two brunettes to see what they were up to now. When she pushed open the bathroom door, she found Thirteen all wet as she tried to keep Rachel still in the bathtub. Allison couldn't resist laughing at them.

"A little help here?" Remy was obviously not as amused as she was.

Cameron rolled up the sleeves of her blouse before jumping in to save the day.

* * *

They all ended up almost drenched with Rachel splashing water around incessantly. She had "accidentally" knocked over a bottle of bath soap, and now the bubbles and suds were spilling over the edge of the tub. The soapy foam ended up all over the bathroom, on Thirteen and Cameron's clothes and faces. With all the complications on the way, it took nearly an hour to bathe Rachel. Eventually though, she realized herself how wrinkly her skin became and decided that she no longer wished to stay in the water. That was when she chose to behave and actually do what she was told. Cameron then had to mop up all the water on the floor as Remy sat Rachel on the sink counter to blow dry her hair. It took twice as long because of how fidgety and restless the little brunette was.

When they were finally done, Allison carried Rachel off to the living room to let the TV distract her for a while. With her temporarily out of the way, the two adults had time to tend to themselves. Still very wet from giving the kid a bath, they were both compelled to strip from their soaked outer layers and hang them up somewhere to dry. Cameron was left with a simple cami while Thirteen had a tight-fitting undershirt.

Releasing heavy sighs, the both of them then walked back to the living room and sank down onto the sofa, one on each side of Rachel. While watching cartoons on TV, both Remy and Allison cherished the time they had to relax. But of course, this time was short-lived. It wasn't long before the hyper-active three-year-old proposed they do something else.

"Shnakes n' Ladderrs!"

"_Snakes and Ladders_?" Thirteen almost whined. She covered her eyes with her forearm. All she wanted to do was go to sleep right now.

"Auntie Remyyy!" The little girl huffed with her brows furrowed. Thirteen noticed her pouting face again and she really didn't want to deal with a crying child.

"Fine."

"Yaaay!"

Very much disinclined, they got up and followed her to the bedroom.

"Where is it?"

"Up! Up!"

Cameron's eyes followed her pointer finger and settled onto a box at the very top of a shelf. She walked up to it and reached for the game... only to find herself a few centimeters to short. _Dammit_.

But not to worry. Thirteen was quick to pick up on the trouble she was having, and walked up to help. Unfortunately, Rachel chose this moment to be extremely impatient with her babysitters. "C'mon, c'mon!" She forcefully pushed Cameron from behind. The blonde suddenly lost balance and tripped forward.

"Whoa!"

On reflex, Remy caught Allison in her arms and held her up. The older doctor clutched tightly onto Remy's shoulders, while she held her close and steady by the waist. It briefly registered in their minds that their faces almost met, and were now merely inches apart. They looked into each other's eyes, holding their breath. After a couple of seconds, the initial shock finally wore off. Cameron straightened up and backed away, blushing slightly.

"Um," Thirteen cleared her throat. "Here, I got it." She reached up and grabbed the board game at ease. She then looked down at Rachel, ready to hand the box to her. But both of the adults noticed that oddly mischievous look on the child's face again.

"Auntie Allie an' Remy sittin' in a tree!" They widened their eyes in disbelief, mouths agape.

"Rachel!"

"Rachel, stop that!" They both took a huge step further away from each other.

"K-I-S-S-"

"Rachel!"

"-I-N-G!"

"Rach, we're not going to play anymore games if you don't stop," Remy warned. Fortunately, that seemed to get the effect she was looking for. The child stopped in the middle of forming her next sentence and pouted. "Shnakes n' Ladderss!" she whined.

"Promise you will not sing that ever again?" The older brunette asked, while holding the board game just above the little girl's reach.

"Mhmm! Promise!" She nodded furiously.

"Fine." She let her snatch the box.

"Yay! Les play!"

They all sat down on the floor and opened up the box. As Rachel busied herself with setting it up and picking the piece she wanted, Remy and Allison's eyes met momentarily, until the blonde quickly looked away. Thirteen sighed inwardly. "Alright, let's play." 


	5. Chapter 5

I apologize in advance for the craziness.

* * *

Chapter 5

It was a bit past nine o'clock when they finished letting Rachel win five games in a row. The way she was playing, they might as well just call it "Ladders" instead.

"Sweetie, it's time for bed," Cameron reminded her softly. They had already given her a 5 minute warning beforehand.

"Awww... I'm not sleepy..." she whined, scrunching up her face.

"C'mon kiddo. Your mommy said you have to be in bed by this time." Thirteen took the dice from her tiny hands and put away the game.

"Let's get you changed."

After helping an unwilling Rachel get into her pajamas and brush her teeth, Cameron carried her over to the bed and slid her under the covers. Remy handed her a stuffed toy bunny and tucked her in. She was just about to move away when she felt a tiny hand grab onto hers.

"Story time!" The girl announced excitedly. Thirteen instantly frowned at her.

"There's no time for that, Rach," she replied wearily. "It's late..."

"Auntie Remy!" She began to pout, again. "Please...? Mommy always tells a story." She jutted her lower lip out, putting on the best puppy face she could ever muster.

"Aw, look at her. Come on _Auntie Remy_," Allison copied. She sat on one side of the bed, making herself comfortable. Two sets of pleading eyes waited on Thirteen.

"_Fine_."

"Yippee!" Rachel clutched her bunny to her chest, ears pricked and eager to listen.

With reluctance, Thirteen sat herself down on the other side of the little girl and cleared her throat. She took a moment to scan her head for ideas before letting herself begin. She couldn't remember the last time she had to tell a story.

"Um..." She was hesitant to start. "Okay. Well. Once upon a time..." She figured that it was safest to begin generically. However, she wasn't sure how to go about continuing that sentence. Glancing up at her two audience members, she didn't fail to notice their impatience growing.

"Okay, okay. Once upon a time, there was a princess named Rachel." This earned a huge smile from the aforementioned child. "Princess Rachel was the daughter of a powerful queen who ruled this magnificent kingdom."

"Can mommy be the queen?"

"Of course dear.

"Now, the queen and the princess lived in this huge castle on the top of a hill. Princess Rachel had rooms and rooms filled up with all kinds of toys. But she was a kind princess. She shared her toys with all the other kids in the kingdom."

"That's nice," Cameron commented on the side.

"Everyone in the kingdom was happy... except... this one, evil and wicked wizard who lives under a bridge by the dark woods. Nobody ever dared to approach that area, because they believed that anyone who crossed that bridge never came back." Rachel's eyes were wide and Remy knew she got her interested. "Everyone knew of this evil wizard, and they stayed as far away from him as possible. See, he had magic powers, but people knew that he would always use them for no good. Some myths explain that the wizard lost his soul after a tragic accident that injured his leg."

Cameron rolled her eyes and smiled. "What's his name?" she asked, although she pretty much knew the answer already.

"The evil House."

Rachel erupted into giggles. "Bad House."

"Yep. Bad House." She ignored the look she was receiving from Cameron. "Anyways. Because House's leg was injured, he flew around in a magic carpet. Oh, and I almost forgot. He had an assistant – a genie kept in a golden lamp. This genie didn't want to help House, but he signed a contract. His name is Wilson." Cameron bit her lip to stifle a laugh.

Remy continued. "So. One day, House was being his usual bitter self, sitting on his magic carpet with nothing to do. But _then_, an idea hit him. He had heard of all these toys that Princess Rachel owned, and how they brought happiness to the kingdom. And he wanted to take them away."

"No!" Rachel protested.

"It's okay, baby, don't worry. As House was discussing his plan to steal the princess's toys, Foreman overheard their conversation."

"Who's Foreman?"

"Foreman is like a policeman who's in charge of the security system. He usually goes out and about, patrolling around the kingdom. So as soon as he heard this evil plan, he ran back to the castle to tell the princess and the queen.

"When the queen found out, she was furious. 'Nobody causes trouble in my kingdom!' she shouted. 'We must protect all the toys from getting stolen.' Princess Rachel agreed with her mother. 'But who can help us?' she asked.

"At that precise moment, a castle guard stepped in. '_I_ will protect the princess's toys!' he said. He was holding a sword and a shield. This guard was named Taub.

"The princess and the queen, however, were not impressed. He didn't seem strong enough to defeat the evil House. When Taub was dismissed, someone else came in. 'I heard you needed help, your highnesses,' said a man. He was a knight with blonde hair. His name was Chase. The queen and the princess considered him for a moment and began to talk among themselves – he seemed like he was strong and capable. But all of a sudden, they heard a loud girly scream. It turned out that Chase was afraid of spiders, and he saw one crawl up his leg."

At this, Cameron smacked Thirteen in the arm playfully for teasing her ex. The brunette smirked and continued on. "So then, they decided that he may not be the best choice. Well, soon it was near the end of the day, and they still didn't know who could help protect them from House. The princess was getting worried because if all her toys would be stolen, she wouldn't be able to share them with the other children in the kingdom anymore.

"Luckily, their hero arrived when all signs of hope were almost gone. A young woman, with a bandana masking her face, rode her horse into the castle. She was the kingdom's most famous and skillful archer. She could shoot an arrow straight into a target even if it was over 50 feet away. Her name was Remy, and her job in the kingdom was to make sure everyone had a fair share of food and water.

"When the queen and princess saw Remy, they knew she was the one. They knew that she would be able to protect the kingdom and defeat the evil House. So Remy was immediately assigned the job to be the leading defender of the castle.

"Where's Auntie Allie? Can she be in it too?"

Thirteen looked down at the child and shrugged indifferently. "Well?" Cameron asked when the younger doctor hadn't responded.

"Oh alright, fine," Remy answered. "Okay. So Remy had a pet monkey, and she was named Allison."

"Hey!"

Both Remy and Rachel burst into laughter. "That's not fair, Rem."

"My story!"

"You're being ridiculous!"

"Okay, okay. You can be my pet _bird."_

The blonde grumbled. "_No_. Allison is a _mage_ who's the healer of the kingdom." She's satisfied with how much better that sounded.

"Alright, fine, whatever." Thirteen didn't want to argue about this stupid story and just decided to move on. "So Remy was mainly in charge of the castle's protection. She ordered her troops to stand outside the castle on all four sides. Since they needed all the help they could get, she decided to give a certain task to Taub, Chase, and Foreman. She assigned them to hide in a tree at the bottom of the hill. Their job was to send them a warning when they see House coming."

"And Allison's job was to help keep the queen and the princess safe," Cameron added.

"So," Thirteen went on after rolling her eyes at her colleague. "All the doors and windows in the castle were shut and locked. Remy was standing right at the front doors, prepared to face the wrath of House.

"Only a couple of minutes after they've gotten into position, they heard the blowing of a horn. 'He's here!' people shouted. Remy had her bow and arrow ready, waiting for the enemy to arrive. Her troops were waiting. The castle guards were looking out the windows, waiting." The storyteller lowered her voice little by little, until it was barely a whisper. "Moments passed while they waited...and everything was very still...and very quiet."

The two listeners sat with anticipation, watching Thirteen with wide eyes. "And then...

"This HUGE red dragon flew down from the sky and landed right in front of the castle!" Rachel gasped. "House jumped down from its back and began to limp towards Remy."

"Oh no!"

"But Remy was not having it. She aimed her arrow at his body. 'Stop!' she commanded. 'If you know what's good for you, leave.'

"House laughed. 'I'm not leaving until I get what I want. Now move out of my way!'

'Never.'

'Fine.' He turned around and waved to his dragon. 'Smash the door open!' As soon as he said those words, the huge dragon began to charge forward. Remy's troops immediately took action and attacked the monster. Taub, Chase, and Foreman also came to help."

"Where's Auntie Allie?" the girl interrupted.

Thirteen sighed. "Allison the _mage_ was standing at the side, healing the soldiers that were attacking the dragon," she added with a bored tone.

"Meanwhile, House and Remy had a fight of their own. The archer's arrows kept missing due to House's magic powers. She didn't know what to do; she had never missed a target in her life. But determined as she was, Remy pulled out another arrow from her quiver and tried again. Just as she was about to let go, there was a loud bang from behind. It turned out that the dragon used its tail to smash open the front doors. The troops were still attacking, but the creature just won't back down. While Remy was distracted, House used his powers to break her weapons. She was now empty-handed and had nothing to fight with.

"By this time, House was getting impatient. He commanded his dragon to blow fire out of his mouth. Flames quickly surrounded the castle. The troops had to retreat. Foreman, Taub, Chase and Remy ran back inside as fast as possible."

"Wait, what happens to _me_?" Cameron asked.

Thirteen thought for a split second. "'There's no time! We must leave Allison behind!' yelled Remy."

"Hey!" The brunette received a well-deserved whack in the arm. Cameron shot her a _very_ unamused look.

"Save Auntie Allie!" Rachel insisted.

"Okay, _fine._ Just when the dragon was about to grab Allison with his claws, Remy swooped in and pulled her out of harms way. They both avoided the fire and ran inside the castle. The soldiers tried to close the doors as quick as they could. From the inside, they watched with awe as the dragon began to shrink, until it eventually transformed into a small golden lamp. Apparently, Wilson had powers to turn into something else.

"While most of the troops were busy watering down the fire, the others managed to close and lock the doors. But they weren't safe yet. House picked up his genie lamp and used his magic carpet to fly over the walls of the castle. They all watched in horror as the evil wizard flew straight up to the highest tower, where Princess Rachel and the Queen were hiding."

"No! Save us!" Rachel demanded.

"Don't worry, sweetie, Remy's not letting anything bad happen," Allison told her comfortingly.

"Yeah, Rach, I haven't even finished yet. Listen," she continued. "As soon as they saw where House was heading, Remy and Allison rushed up the spiral stairs to get to the tower as fast as they could. On the way up, Remy grabbed a bow and a quiver of arrows from a weapons shelf in order to prepare herself to fight. They got there just in time. As soon as they entered through the door, House crashed in through the window. The queen and the princess ran and hid behind Remy and Allison.

'My, my, look at this,' House said. 'It's the princess and the queen.'

'You'll have to get through _me_ first,' Remy said bravely. She stood protectively in front of all three of them. But he only laughed. 'You really think you can defeat me?' he asked. 'Sorry, but you'll be disappointed.'

"With his magic powers, he managed to yank the bow off Remy's hands in a blink of an eye. But what she noticed was that House's genie lamp was glowing brightly while this happened. She didn't see it shine like that before. That could only mean..."

"The magic! It's in the genie lamp!" Rachel shouted. She was bouncing her stuffed toy bunny up and down excitedly.

"Right. So what she needed to do was to destroy it. But her bow was all the way on the other side of the room. She had no idea what she could do."

"Auntie Allie! Help!"

"Okay... Well... Allison just happened to have a mirror in her pocket, and from behind, she sneakily handed it to Remy. When Remy saw what it was, she knew exactly what to use it for. In one quick motion, she used the mirror to reflect sunlight into House's eyes. House yelled as the light blinded him for a moment. Allison ran to get the archer's bow and tossed it to her. Remy caught it and very skillfully shot an arrow at the genie lamp. It shattered into pieces."

"And then?"

"And then... House had no more magic powers, and Wilson the genie was free. He had always been a good genie, and now that he didn't work for the wizard anymore, he was on our side."

"Yay!"

"But! House was stubborn, and he still wanted to fight. He grabbed his cane and swung it at Remy. Remy managed to block his cane with her bow. Everyone in the room watched as the two of them battled it out. They were jumping onto tables and chairs, knocking over books and vases... and the others all gasped when Remy almost fell out the window. But House was eventually getting tired, and at the right moment, Remy kicked away his cane and cornered him with an arrow to his neck. The fight was over, and the archer won.

'Stop!' the queen yelled all of a sudden. 'Spare this poor man's life. I want to give him another chance.'

"Everyone was surprised by her words. But she was the queen and they listened and did whatever she said. Remy backed away and the queen approached House. She handed him an apple and ordered him to eat it. He did as he was told and it turned out that the apple helped take away some of the pain in his leg. And so House was forever indebted to the queen, and they eventually fell in love. There were no longer any disturbances in the kingdom. Nobody dared to steal the toys or harm the princess. Thanks to Remy, the amazing archer –"

"And Allison," she interjected.

"Thanks to Remy _and _Allison..." Thirteen repeated. "They all lived happily ever after."

Rachel had a sleepy smile on her face when the story finally ended. Remy pulled up the covers and patted her a couple of times. "You got your bedtime story. Now go to bed."

They stayed with her a while, waiting until she was close to falling asleep. Allison softly stroked the child's brown locks. "Goodnight Rachel."

Quietly, they turned off the lights and stepped out of the room, leaving the child to dream about castles and dragons. By that time, it was near ten o'clock already. Thirteen headed straight for the sofa and fell back into its soft cushions. "Jesus, I'm never telling bedtime stories ever again. That took forever."

Cameron chuckled and sat down right beside her. "I gotta admit, that was pretty elaborate."

The brunette rested her arms behind her head and stretched her legs out on the coffee table. "I know. I'm a natural," she answered with sarcastic cockiness.

"I liked it. Except for the fact that you totally messed with my character."

"I did not! It was just how I imagined it to be." Remy grinned when Allison gave her a look.

"Next time I tell a story, I'm making you my pet rock."

Thirteen rolled her eyes but didn't bother to hide her smirk. She grabbed the remote and turned on the TV to see if anything good was on. She kept the volume low though, so they wouldn't wake up the kid they tried so hard to get to bed. The both of them wearily focused their attention to some random sitcom that was showing.

"Dinner was good... by the way," Remy said all of a sudden. But it wasn't an offhand thing. In a way, it was to subtly apologize for her negative attitude earlier. As the evening progressed, she realized that it wasn't so hard to get along, and felt the need to be nicer to her. Cameron was genuinely surprised by this comment. She turned sideways and casted her a glance. "Thanks."

They sat in silence for the rest of the show, both yawning sporadically, exchanging quiet and slightly slurred commentaries here and there. Without enough sleep from working late the previous night, in addition to waking up early and chasing around a kid all day, the two doctors felt utterly exhausted. They just wished that House and Cuddy would come home from their trip already so that _they _can go home.

Eventually, no matter how hard they tried to keep their eyes open, the both of them fell asleep. With the way they were sitting, Cameron had gradually inched closer and closer to Thirteen until she was leaning fully against her on the couch. Instead of waking up, the brunette only stirred a little and shifted her position so that she was lying horizontally, bringing her companion down with her. Allison murmured something incomprehensible in her sleep and laid her head against Remy's chest. Over the next few minutes, arms subconsciously found their way around each other's bodies, and legs got entangled.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

And this was the sight that House and Cuddy came home to at 11:30 that night. To say that they were surprised would be a complete understatement. The moment they stepped into the living room, they immediately paused in their tracks, mouths slightly agape. The two women were so tired that they didn't even hear their car arrive, or the opening and shutting of the door, and remained sound asleep.

Seizing the moment, House drew out his cellphone and took several quick snapshots. He was utterly ecstatic – so much that he had forgotten the pain in his leg for a good couple of minutes as he bounced around to get pictures from different angles. It was like a kid with a $20 coupon in a candy store. "Oh...this is _too_ good." The grin on his unshaven face couldn't have been any wider.

"Come on, leave those two alone," Cuddy scolded as she swatted him away. Her expression softened remarkably when she looked at her two employees though. She found them unexpectedly adorable together, and was glad they got along. _Or perhaps even more than that._ she thought amusedly.

The sound of their voices caused Cameron to stir. She inhaled and exhaled deeply, then snuggled even closer to Remy, tightening her grip around the younger woman's waist. Cuddy was about to whisper something to House when a sudden pattering of feet on wooden floors caught her attention. Rachel had heard them come home, and had crawled out of bed. She ran to give Cuddy a big hug. "Mommy!" she shouted.

"Shhh!" The dean held a finger to her lips. But too late. Her daughter's voice had woken the two women up.

"Hmmm...?"

Allison and Remy slowly blinked open their eyes in confusion. The younger woman stretched her body, but found it difficult to do so due to an extra weight on top of her. After a moment of disorientation, they widened their eyes and stared straight at each other. They completely freaked at the same time. Thirteen instantly rolled over and fell off the sofa onto the ground with a loud thud. "Ooof!"

Realizing that they were not the only ones in the room, Cameron quickly sat up and ran a hand through her disheveled hair. "Oh god, are you okay?" she asked, looking down at her co-worker.

"I'm okay..." Thirteen groggily sat herself up.

House was casting obvious looks back and forth between the two of them. "I see that there has been some girl-on-girl tonight." All three women in the room rolled their eyes.

The ER attending decided to ignore his last comment. Rubbing her eyes, she turned to Cuddy. "So...Lisa, how was D.C.?"

Her boss smiled. "It was great. House behaved like he promised," she answered. "We're just sorry for coming home so late! There was a delay...and the traffic was crazy." A slight tugging at her skirt reminded her of her child's presence. "So, how was Rachel?"

Remy had stood up and retrieved her now-dry shirt that used to be soaked from giving said kid a bath earlier. "Active," she answered while buttoning it up.

"Definitely," Cameron added. She was putting on her blouse, feeling a tad bit self-conscious since she had only been wearing a cami (and was previously found cuddling up with her bisexual colleague).

Cuddy looked down at her daughter, ready to scold. "Oh no... Did she give you two a hard time?"

Thirteen caught the begging expression on Rachel's face. "We handled. Don't worry about it." She didn't know what made her cut the kid some slack. Cameron was surprised too at her generosity.

"Well, I can't thank you two enough for watching her. Just let me know when you would like your days off."

They nodded sleepily and headed for the door. "Rachel," Cuddy called. "Give Auntie Allison and Auntie Remy a hug goodbye. And say 'thank you'."

They both kneeled down to the little girl's height. Rachel gave the two of them a warm hug and a sweet, sweet smile. "Thank you Auntie Allie. Thank you Auntie Remy," she said as sincerely as she could. Both Allison and Remy exchanged a glance and smiled at her adorableness. Maybe this kid wasn't so bad after all.

"Alright, bye bye."

"Goodnight."

They turned to leave. But just as they stepped over the threshold and out of the door...

"Auntie Allie n' Auntie Remy almost kissed!"

"..."

"..."

"No, we _didn't_!"

They would never forget the look that spread across House's face upon hearing Rachel's words. However, he didn't say anything. He just stared and smirked mischievously – which actually frightened the two women a little because they had no idea what he was thinking or what his brain was plotting. It was Cuddy who interrupted to save the situation. "...Okay dear, let's get you to bed now. Uh...Goodbye girls. And thanks again! See you Monday!"

Once they shut the door, Cameron and Thirteen turned and glanced at each other shyly. Deciding not to comment on what happened earlier, they slowly began walking down the driveway to locate their cars. It was pretty late, and the neighborhood was quiet under the clear night sky. After eyeing her companion warily, Thirteen decided to break the silence.

"Hey, um. I want to say sorry for today... I was being such a pain earlier. I don't know what got over me..." Remy trailed off. "Hope you'll forgive me for my behavior. I don't usually act like that."

Allison smiled sleepily. "Oh that's okay. I'm sorry too. I know I haven't exactly been...pleasant." They both chuckled.

"Well, babysitting wasn't so bad. I mean, there were some moments, but overall it really wasn't that bad." Disregarding all the trouble they had to go through, it was sort of a fun experience. And to be honest, Cuddy's daughter _was_ pretty cute.

"Yeah, despite the fact that Rachel was trying to see how far she could push us."

Remy laughed lightly. "Kids... But you have to admit, you had fun."

The blonde smiled. "Yeah, I did."

At this point, they've stopped beside Cameron's car. They looked up at each other momentarily, then averted their eyes elsewhere.

"Anways... I'll see you monday. Goodnight Remy." She stood there for a while longer, using the excuse of waiting for her colleague's reply to refrain from entering the car just yet. She watched Thirteen carefully and noticed that she looked as if she had something to say.

"Allison?"

"Yeah?"

"Um, about the deal..."

Upon hearing those words, Cameron was a bit confused. It took a moment before she remembered exactly what the taller woman was talking about. And when she did remember, she found herself feeling a little disappointed. "Oh yeah... 3 weeks of charting... Got it..."

"No," Remy quickly said. "I meant... Instead of that, I've got something else in mind."

There was a fleeting moment of suspense as Cameron rapidly searched her thoughts to see if she could get an idea of what her companion might possibly be thinking of.

"...like...?" she asked curiously. She noticed a mischievous glint flash in Thirteen's eyes. When the brunette began to step closer, Allison watched her with surprise. She backed up until she hit the door of her car, unsure of what the other woman was doing.

Remy held up a single index finger as indication. "One kiss."

* * *

It took a few seconds for those words to register in her mind, for the signifier and the signified to actually connect. Cameron could hardly believe what she was asking for. "What?" she asked incredulously, even though they both knew that she heard her loud and clear. It was so random, so out of the blue and unexpected, that it seemed inconceivable.

"One. Kiss," Remy simply repeated.

Allison felt as if she lost her footing and didn't know which side was up anymore. Here is the enigmatic and elusive Doctor Hadley, after a long day of babysitting and bickering about the most trivial of things – a person she barely knew... and a woman, no less – asking to kiss her. Why on _Earth_ would she want to do that? '_Why?_' was all she kept asking herself.

_Unless..._

Cameron didn't want to continue that train of thought. It was impossible. Improbable. This was absolutely crazy.

"You can't be serious."

Thirteen furrowed her brows. "Of course I'm serious. Why, do you think I'm kidding?"

Allison opened her mouth to say something, but she didn't speak. The thing is, she had always known about her colleague's bisexuality, ever since the growing rumors and the revelations of her one-night-stands. But she just...never imagined Remy would think of her _that _way. It never occurred to her since they don't even interact enough to call each other friends in the first place. All Allison ever got from the brunette's demeanor was that she was not interested, in any sense, and plain indifference. But now, standing in front of her, the look on Remy's face was anything but that. It was almost as if she was an entirely different person.

The blonde blushed profusely at the newly-discovered possibility that Remy just might like her. She looked away. "_Thirteen_..."

"What?"

"I... It's..." She closed her eyes and shook her head. "No."

"Why not?" Thirteen's tone was unassertive and a little bit playful.

Cameron shifted her weight and only sighed in response.

"Come on, Allison, it's just one kiss."

"Remy, you know I don't do that..."

"What, you don't kiss?"

"_No._... I don't kiss _women_," she clarified.

"Well, we made a deal..."

"Which was three weeks of charting, if I remember correctly."

"But now I've come up with a better idea."

"You know I'm more likely to do the former one."

"Now, Allison." Remy had summoned the courage to take another step closer to her, so that their bodies were now barely touching. "It would be extremely silly of you to choose the former because that requires hours of work over a longer period of time, while my new proposal only lasts seconds and takes almost no effort at all."

The blonde eyed her skeptically. She's got a point. They both knew that. Any sane person, man or woman, would be able to make a choice in half a heartbeat. No matter what, the new proposal would win over the old one any day. And right now, under the faint streetlights, Remy looked so damn attractive, and her lips...so inviting and soft. The younger woman caught her companion staring and knew at that very moment that she's got her. Cameron chewed out her bottom lip, then shot Thirteen a very, _very_ displeased look.

"Just one kiss."

Remy nodded in confirmation. "Just one."

"One. Short. Brief. Kiss."

"Yes. Right now."

"Right now?" Cameron looked at the woman like she had just asked her to commit a crime.

Thirteen laughed out loud at the sudden reaction. "When _else_ Cameron? Tomorrow? Monday? Next month? Next year?"

That left her speechless. Allison wished she had just gotten in her car and drove away. Goddammit, why did Remy have to be bisexual? She's messing her up. And the fact that Cameron's brain was still in the process of waking up wasn't making things any better. Even Thirteen was well aware of the inner struggle she was having – that was why she stood intently waiting for her to say something. All Allison could think of saying though, was "_Why_?" She seriously wanted to ask why. But she figured that asking it aloud would only embarrass herself further. The brunette's mere desire to kiss her was enough indication that she fancied her. But it was just... so sudden, it more than caught Allison off guard. She wasn't sure what she wanted to do.

"This is a bad idea," she finally spoke up. Despite her words, Remy found herself smirking.

"The look on your face says otherwise."

Allison crossed her arms defensively and furrowed her brows. Her mind was so deep in contemplation, Remy could almost hear the gears turning in her head.

"Oh come _on_ Cam, stop being such a wimp. It's just a kiss. You're acting as if I have cooties or something."

"..."

"Let me remind you again that we made a deal." Oh she knew exactly which card to pull. That's the one thing Allison hated about having colleagues who work for House – over time, they've developed impressive manipulative and negotiating skills. It was frustrating. In fact, Thirteen herself was frustrating, Cameron had concluded.

She looked up at the brunette unwillingly. "...Well... right here? In front of Cuddy's driveway? What if House sees us?" Just the mere thought of it made her paranoid and panicky.

"We're like, over thirty feet away from her house! Standing in the dark! Allison, you're making this seem like such a big deal."

"It _is_ a big deal!"

"Why?"

"...Because..." she started, without knowing what to say next. '_I think I'm attracted to you._' She surprised herself with that spontaneous thought, which caused her cheeks to warm up even more. "...I-I dunno... If you haven't noticed, I don't exactly go around kissing women, Remy."

"It's not a big deal if you don't make it a big deal. It's all in the head." Thirteen tapped her temple demonstratively. She couldn't believe that ten minutes had gone by and they were still standing out there, without any progress. "It's just the same as kissing a guy." '_If not better,_' she thought with amusement. But at the same time, she knew that she had to understand how this request caught Cameron a little off guard. Perhaps she was still unsure of her sexuality, or uncomfortable with revealing it. Or perhaps she just didn't like to kiss random co-workers. Whatever the reason, Thirteen decided to take the chance and see what she can get away with.

"Come on. It's getting late. We're both tired from watching the kid all day. One quick kiss. That's all," she persuaded. "It'll last like, three seconds. And then you won't have to do any charting."

Allison thought for a moment longer and narrowed her eyes at the gorgeous woman standing in front of her. If she considered the options in a logical fashion, the kiss would totally be the better choice by far. But the blonde found it hard to believe that this simple kiss would be free of any emotions or consequences, which could potentially lead her into a sticky situation later on. She didn't know what to think of Thirteen's ulterior motives. Was this just a game to her? What exactly is she trying to do here?

But no matter what her reasons were, Allison realized that she did _not_ want to do any of House's charting for three weeks. She had her own department to worry about, and she really did not need any more paperwork in addition to what she already has to do. She heaved a sigh and dropped her shoulders in submission. "Fine..." '_Let's just get this over with...'_ she decided.

Remy tried so hard not to break out into a grin and strained to hide her excitement. As she was closing the distance between them, she watched Cameron shut her eyes tight, as if something terribly frightening was going to happen to her. The brunette actually found it kind of hilarious. But now was not the time to laugh. It was time to make the most of the chance she was given.

Thirteen leaned in and gently placed her hands on Allison's waist. Almost immediately, she felt the older woman's body tense up, her arms crossed even tighter than they were before. Remy decided to pay no mind to her stiffness. Slowly, she tilted her head and ever so lightly, pressed her lips against Allison's. The kiss was very soft and careful. But eventually, Remy no longer had enough self-control to hold back. She decided to take the risk and gently leaned her body against Cameron's, kissing her more fully. Her move didn't last as long as she had wished though, because a couple seconds later, she felt hands on her shoulders as the blonde began pulling away. Thirteen opened her eyes to find an extremely flustered and red Cameron, who was now deliberately avoiding eye contact. Her hands were still on the taller woman's shoulders, neither pushing her further away nor pulling her closer. Despite being a short kiss, it left both of them a little breathless. "Okay..." Allison spoke up in a whisper, still trying to catch her breath. "That was three seconds..." What was intriguing was that she didn't make any attempts to move away.

Remy released a throaty chuckle at the way she was behaving. "No it wasn't." She wanted this.

She leaned in and quickly captured her lips again. Before Allison could find it in her to pull away, Thirteen had already slid her arms around her waist. Remy tentatively made efforts to deepen the kiss, and was slightly astonished when Cameron allowed her. The kiss wasn't aggressive or forceful. It was calculated, meticulous, tender. Remy was purposefully going slow, gently caressing along the warm skin of the blonde's abdomen. Very soon, she felt Allison responding. The older woman really couldn't help herself anymore. As she felt a hand stroke down her spine, Allison bit back a moan. Thirteen smiled against her lips. By now, Cameron was kissing back fully, her arms around the brunette's neck, pulling her even closer. Hands were roaming, running through wavy brown locks and meeting soft skin. Remy Hadley couldn't think of a time when she was happier than this very moment.

Eventually though, they had to break their intense lip-lock to catch their breath. It took a moment before they opened their eyes again. With their faces still inches apart, Remy watched her colleague intently. Allison's entire face was red, and her pupils dilated. Both were very much dazed by their interactions. Being the first to recover, Thirteen smirked.

"See... That wasn't so bad."

She took a step back, forcing the shorter woman to release her grip around her neck. As if she had finally snapped back into reality, Cameron immediately crossed her arms and straightened herself up. She felt extremely self conscious all of a sudden.

Although Remy lingered for a moment, she unwillingly removed her hands from Allison's waist. She continued smiling that self-satisfied smirk of hers as she stepped away and sauntered over to her car, with a little extra sway, knowing that a certain someone's eyes were following.

"Well, goodnight Doctor Cameron," she spoke while opening the door. "I'll see you Monday." Thirteen then shot her the most seductive wink that has ever existed on the face of this earth. She gave the blonde a once over, checking her out most blatantly. Remy licked her lips with much relish, then sent her a final smug and flirtatious smile.

She got in the car, turned on the engine, then drove away. Allison was still standing there in disbelief when Thirteen was gone.

_'What the hell just happened?'_


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

When Monday rolled along, Allison Cameron was not looking forward to going back to work. It wasn't because it was the beginning of another week of chaos in the ER. It wasn't because she had a stack of paperwork waiting for her on her desk. And it wasn't because she was having a particularly bad morning because she happened to spill her coffee on the way out of her apartment. It was because she had _no_ idea how to act when she sees Thirteen at the hospital. Even when given an entire Sunday to think about it – to dread it – she remained completely clueless.

It was strange. The way Thirteen acted that night was definitely the least of her expectations. Allison had never seen her like that – more specifically, she'd never been on the receiving end of Remy Hadley's charm. What confused her the most was the sudden change of heart. If she remembered correctly, their day of babysitting began with the both of them disagreeing on most things. And yet the evening ended with such an unexpected twist.

Entering through the hospital's lobby, the ER attending's eyes snapped to every single brunette in her peripheral vision. It may be a little too paranoid of her, but she couldn't help it. She pretty much spent the rest of the day in this anxious fashion when she was not concentrating on a patient. She kept asking herself over and over again, _'Should I smile and talk to her? Or should I not make a big deal about it and act as if nothing happened?_' She absolutely hated how her brain seemed to be dysfunctional when it came to personal and emotional matters. Even worse was having them in the context of her workplace – which is a hospital that didn't need any distractions, no matter how much House would argue otherwise.

* * *

The only reason Thirteen was not looking forward to going to work on Monday was because of her boss. Her crazy, maniacal, cunning, deceptive, liar of a boss. As she made her way up to Diagnostics with a cup of decaf in her hand, she made a mental note to look as indifferent as possible when he interrogated her. The very moment she stepped inside the office, she made eye contact with him, and she continued to eye him cautiously as she took a seat at the glass table.

"You're late."

"No, I'm not."

"Relative to your boss, you are."

"Well, I apologize for assuming that you'd walk in fifteen minutes later than all of us, like you normally do," she responded, not even bothering to cover up the sarcasm.

Despite the remark, he grinned. "Those are the days when I have morning sex with Cuddy." All three of his employees made a face.

"Ugh, don't wanna hear it," Taub interjected, turning back to the crossword he had been doing.

"He's just upset because he hasn't been getting any," House whispered loudly. As he lazily twirled his cane around his fingers, he looked over to the black doctor, who was sitting stiffly while reading a newspaper. "And homie over here must be in the same boat. Just look at that grumpy face."

"Is it really necessary to talk about our sex lives at work?" Foreman retorted, obviously irritated. It was probably due to the fact that he _wasn't_ getting any action too.

"Don't you want to know about Thirteen's sex life?" House asked back. He leaned forward to face the brunette. "I know _I_ do."

Remy casted him a brief look of annoyance and went back to reading her journal. She tried not to let him affect her too much.

"So..." he began, scrutinizing her with his hawk-like eyes. "...You doing anyone lately?"

At his question, Thirteen didn't even bat an eye. She took a subtle deep breath and flipped a page of her magazine. The only way to keep things unsuspicious was to be totally casual about it. "Just the occasional girl from the bar."

House raised his eyebrows. '_She's hiding_. _Interesting._'He studied the expression on her face and saw that it was neutral, barely giving away anything. '_She's good,' _he thought, although he would never admit to anyone that ever since day one, he had still been having trouble figuring her out. And the blank look planted on her face was not helping at all.

With House remaining silent for a while, Remy began to worry. She would _kill_ him if he ruined anything between her and Allison, especially when it had barely started. No. This was important. She wouldn't have minded if he made remarks about her one-night-stands, or previous clubbing habits. She grew used to them by now, and would probably just laugh it off. But _this –_ it mattered. For some reason, Remy felt the need to take any extra precautions to make sure that nothing would go wrong.

She looked up from her reading and locked her eyes with her boss's in a challenging glare as she waited to see what he would say next. He looked back critically, analyzing her body language and the look she was sending him. She sat, watching him with narrow eyes, waiting – daring him to say something that would either embarrass or infuriate her. The expression she sent him: _Bring it._

Now, either her attitude scared off her boss a little, or House's somewhat stable relationship with Cuddy had made him less of a pain in the ass – whatever it could have been, he didn't tell her off like she expected him to. Interestingly enough, he didn't bring Cameron up at all.

"So," he announced to the whole room. "Since Thirty-One is here now, let me disclose today's agenda. Listen up kids." He whacked the page of crossword off of Taub's hands with his cane. "It's time," he said dramatically.

"Time for what?" the Jewish doctor asked with annoyance.

"Time for me to go watch TiVoed episodes of _General Hospital_. Duh!"

"Okay... and what are we supposed to do?"

"Oh, sorry, I left out the fun part. You get to do my clinic hours."

Taub scoffed. "No thanks."

"Pretty please?" House begged in a mocking fashion, blinking his eyes at him. Unfortunately, Taub only resumed to do his crossword.

"Fine. Thirteen can do it."

"What?"

"And after that, you can go find us a case... in the _ER._" He emphasized the last two letters, sending her an over-exaggerated wink. Remy widened her eyes.

"That's not fair."

"Life's not fair."

"Why does it have to be me? Make Foreman do it." As soon as those words left her mouth, she received a glare from the black doctor.

"It's because you are special. Aren't you flattered that your boss thinks you're special?"

"No," she deadpanned.

"Oh, don't be such an ingrate."

Remy rolled her eyes and picked her medical journal back up. "Not, doing it."

"Yes you are."

"Make me."

"I can fire you, you know."

"You won't. I matter too much to this team, and Cuddy won't let you."

There was a brief pause in the air. As Thirteen sat, staring at a jumble of words on a page, she felt House's eyes on her.

"Go do my clinic hours and find us a case. Or else."

"Or else what?"

She looked up indifferently, but when saw a devilish smirk on her boss's face, she grew nervous. She watched anxiously as he pulled out his cellphone from his pocket in a grand flourish. "I shall take advantage of my newly acquired blackmail material." He swiftly shoved the device in front of his employee's face to show her the image on it, and quickly retrieved the phone before she managed to grab it.

Thirteen's eyes were as wide as saucers. '_NO._'

Both Foreman and Taub didn't get the chance to see what was on the cellphone, and by now, they were dying to know what it was that got their colleague so affected. They watched with raised eyebrows when Thirteen jumped off her seat and attempted to snatch the cellular device from House's hand. "Oh my god! The lesbian's attacking!" He tried to keep her away at cane's length, but she only swatted the stick away. As he was holding the phone up in the air, swerving it out of the brunette's reach, a sudden idea came to mind. He quickly turned away and shoved it in his pants – where he knew that she would never dare to go no matter how desperate she was. Remy immediately grimaced in a look of absolute horror.

"Gross..." Taub remarked. Both he and Foreman were still a little stunned by what took place. No one had ever seen Thirteen provoked like that.

House stood there with a smug look of triumph on his face. "Like I said. Do it. Or else."

The brunette shot him the deadliest death glare she could muster, then stormed out of the room without saying another word. The three men carefully watched her as she exited and walked down the hall with a very dissatisfied frown.

"What was on the phone?" Foreman asked, increasingly curious.

House smirked. "Wouldn't you want to know." With that, he spun around and walked into his own office.

_Boy, that was fun._

_

* * *

_

As Remy was doing work at the clinic, she couldn't help but remain deep in thought about personal matters rather than that of the patients. She seriously wondered what her crazy boss would do with the picture of her and Allison. The truth was, the photo itself wasn't that bad. (In all honesty, she found it extremely cute, and wanted a copy for herself.) But what mattered to her the most at the moment was how the ER attending would react if it was leaked out to the public in the hospital. If she wasn't ready, she would only freak out and push her away. And that was the last thing that Thirteen wanted.

After much thinking though, she realized that she should disregard her recalcitrant boss for the time being, and resolved to personally confront the blonde later in the day. She decided that she was not going to let House's little games affect her plan to see if she had a chance at winning Allison Cameron over.

* * *

The day had been fairly slow down in the ER. By early afternoon, Allison had become fully consumed with her work, directing all of her attention to her patients and only her patients. After stitching up someone's arm, she washed up and headed over to the nurse's station to see how things were running. Almost immediately, one of the nurses approached her. "Doctor Cameron, could you take a look at this?"

"Of course." She put on her glasses and entered into a discussion about a particular incoming patient.

Allison was in the middle of listening to the nurse as she discussed the file...when a brief, routine scan around the area caused her to look twice. The words of the nurse fell into deaf ears as the blonde's gaze fell onto a familiar figure. Her heart raced and she took a deep breath, forcing her thoughts to return to the conversation she was having. Unfortunately, Cameron was hearing but not listening. With failed restraint, her eyes quickly snapped back to the brunette standing over at the other side of the room. And at that very moment, their eyes met for a split second.

Blood rose to her cheeks as Allison blushed intensely. Her face felt so warm, she was sure that she could have passed as someone with a fever. After that brief incident, she dared not to look up again. Instead, she fixed her gaze on the file held in front of her, attempting to block out all irrelevant thoughts and concentrate for once on what the nurse was actually saying. But in her mind, all she was doing was praying for Thirteen not to walk over. It would be the death of her.

Remy actually saw this coming; her reaction was only natural. But she first needed to figure out _why_ Allison was feeling so flustered. Was she embarrassed because of what happened? Or was she just being shy? In any case, there was no turning back now. Thirteen had _clearly_ expressed her interest – what was done was done.

The fact was, Remy had been thinking of approaching Cameron for a long time now. She had always found her very admirable and undeniably attractive. But when they first met, when Allison was introduced as Doctor Chase's _girlfriend_, Thirteen made a mental note to keep her hands off her. And so she never gave the blonde another thought. She didn't think to pay any attention to her, let alone go out of the way to talk to her. Remy knew that if she didn't set up this boundary, she would've been in big trouble. She knew from experience that crushing on straight, _taken_ girls was not healthy. That was why she remained so detached whenever she interacted with Allison in the first place. She couldn't risk to lose control over herself and go down that road, so she resolved to pushing her away. But after given the chance to closely study the blonde, Remy decided that the mere fact that Allison agreed to let her kiss her was enough justification for a green light.

Even so, Thirteen needed to see how the older doctor would react before she could choose to do anything. Because she wanted to be ready for any possible twist of events that might happen – good or bad – she felt the need to test the waters first. And so her short trip to the ER gave her the chance to do just that. As she walked into the unit, she couldn't help but find it a little ironic – it felt like she was a predator, quietly approaching the prey, hoping for it not to freak out and run off in the other direction. Not a very romantic way to put it, to say the least.

From afar, she could clearly see the flushed expression on Allison's face after they made eye contact. She smiled slightly to herself and looked down. The blonde probably wouldn't be too happy with her presence in the ER, but she had her job as an excuse. House, that devil of a man, had manipulated her to go search for a new case. And she found one. But... in order to be able to take the patient, she needed permission from the ER attending first. Hesitantly, she walked over to the nurse's station. Cameron was still in the middle of her conversation, and Remy politely waited until she was done.

When Allison saw the brunette make her way over, she panicked on the inside. But there was no place for her to run and hide. So instead, she pretended not to notice and continued to stare and the file of the patient that the nurse was holding. She mentally cursed Thirteen's existence.

Eventually, the nurse got whatever information she needed from Cameron, and she thanked her and walked off. Allison had wanted to prolong their discussion as much as possible, with hopes of putting off her confrontation with Remy. But they both knew that that was not going to happen.

"Doctor Cameron," Thirteen greeted timidly, stepping in front of her with a file in her hands.

Allison looked up to meet her gaze and struggled to keep her cool. "Doctor Hadley," she answered similarly.

They stared at each other with shy intent for a moment, before looking away. Thirteen cleared her throat. "Um, House sent me here to look for a case. And I was wondering if I could take this one." She held up the manila folder as indication.

Cameron took it and scanned the contents, involuntarily slipping into doctor mode. "Oh this one... She came in early this morning. We were thinking autoimmune, but recently she's been showing signs of neurological disorder... House would like this."

"Yes, he would." Thirteen watched as the blonde studied the file with furrowed brows. Her eyes drifted from Allison's bright teal eyes behind her glasses, down to her delicate pink lips, up to her blonde hair tied back in a bun, then down again to her neck and shoulders and chest and... '_Stop._' She shook herself out of her thoughts. "So uh, could you sign it off for me please?"

Cameron snapped herself back into the room with Thirteen after having been distracted by the patient's interesting medical history. "Oh! Uh, yeah, of course..." She immediately searched her pockets for a pen, only to come up empty handed.

"Here." Cameron looked up to see one handed to her.

"Thanks," she responded, tentatively reaching for the pen. The proximity of the brunette was making her ridiculously nervous. She deliberately avoided eye contact, fearing that she might not be able to control the raging butterflies in her stomach.

Remy, however, was quick to catch on to her diffidence. She purposefully held on to the pen as Cameron tried to take it from her. When Allison realized that her colleague wasn't letting go, she looked up. Two pairs of blue eyes met, both exchanging looks of intense curiosity. Satisfied with the connection, Thirteen finally released her grip. "Thanks..." the blonde muttered again, this time in a quieter tone. Allison quickly looked back down and fumbled with the folder a bit, then signed whatever she had to sign, all while blushing profusely.

Unable to bring herself to meet her gaze again, Cameron handed back the folder and the pen while she stared off elsewhere, pretending to be distracted. Being as persistent as Remy was, she decided to test her again. She stood there, refraining from taking the file and pen. This realization caused Allison to look up in confusion once more. When she did, Thirteen took a step closer and reached for her things. Now, Cameron was all too aware that that extra step towards her was not necessary at all. Nervously, she looked into the younger doctor's eyes to try to read her. Remy, however, acted as if their closeness was nonexistent at all. They stood there in silence for a moment, eyes searching, hands still clutching onto the file held between them.

By now, the blonde seemed to have gotten the message and maintained eye contact. Pleased at this, Remy finally spoke up. "Are you busy tonight?"

That simple question alone managed to make Allison's heart skip a beat. She widened her eyes and swallowed, stumbling over her reply. "Um... I uh..." What should she say? Her eyes darted to the side several times as she struggled to continue to meet Remy's gaze. "Well... I-I don't think so..."

Thirteen tried to suppress a smirk. My _god_ she has got to be the most adorable thing on the face of this planet. "Well," began Remy slowly. "Are you free enough to have dinner with me after work?"

Cameron looked at the other woman with a bit of surprise. She knew this was coming, but she would never have guessed that Doctor Hadley was so bold when it came to pursuing women. It made her feel a little weak in the knees. And all of a sudden, it began to feel really warm in the ER.

It took a while for Allison to compose a decent reply. She still wasn't sure what this was, or what Thirteen was trying to do. Despite trying to think everything through, she found it hard to read the reasons behind her motives. But what puzzled her the most was that she actually found herself wanting to say 'yes'. Well – not necessarily wanting to say 'yes', but definitely unable to say 'no'. She couldn't find it in her to turn the younger doctor down. Right now, Doctor Hadley was rendering her judgement skills to be completely irrational. All she wanted to do was to agree and comply no matter what. But because she was so nervous, she had to think twice, or even thrice, in order to untangle the jumble of words caught in her throat. Thirteen, however, waited patiently, amusedly almost. She nearly laughed out loud though when Cameron finally settled for a few nods of her head in response to her question.

Remy smiled at her genuinely. "Great. So...do you get out at 7 too?"

Another timid nod.

"Okay... Well, I'll meet you outside the entrance then. Sound good?"

Allison nodded again, unable to find anything to say.

At this, Thirteen finally took the folder out of her hand. She stepped back. "Alright, I'll see you then." And she walked off, hurrying back up to Diagnostics, ready with a case in hand.

Still standing at the nurse's station, Cameron was honestly stunned by what just took place. After her eyes followed Remy until she was out of sight, she immediately turned around and grabbed the closest file on the counter with hopes of distracting herself and appearing to be working. All this time she was biting her lip nervously. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted several nurses looking at her direction, whispering into each others' ears; they couldn't have been more obvious.

Allison's face turned even redder now that she realized that other people had witnessed her and Thirteen's exchange. Half of her wanted to take advantage of being the head of the department and snap at them to get back to work. And yet... despite feeling very unsure of what she was doing, the thought of Thirteen asking her out for dinner left a small spark of excitement.

* * *

- end of chapter -

Hey, sorry for the late update guys. But see, this chapter was extra long to make up for it. It is also written particularly long because...well, spring break's over, back to school, and I won't be able to update as often as I had been doing. So. Just a heads up and an apology in advance. I sawryyy. D:

But I shall have you know that I'd never abandon an incomplete camteen story. Fo realz.


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Note: No worries. I'm still alive and breathing. :) Well, more like trying to breath, because I can barely wait 2 weeks for Thirteen to get back... It's driving me nuts!  
But anyways, here's the next chapter. I apologize for making you wait so long.

* * *

Chapter 8

When seven o'clock came around, Allison left her office for the locker rooms to change out of her scrubs. All the while, she had mixed feelings about her upcoming meeting with Thirteen. She still wasn't sure what to think of it all. The last time she checked, she wasn't attracted to women in this sort of way. But as funny as it sounded, Remy Hadley...just had a certain way with the ladies. It was odd how she never imagined that she would feel this way about the brunette. But then again, because she had been with Chase for a while, she never saw her as an option.

While still feeling very uncertain – and to be honest, a part of her felt like chickening out – there was the other part of Cameron that was genuinely curious, that wanted to know what it would be like to get to know and date Thirteen. The woman had always been quite a puzzle to solve, but the blonde felt willing to take on that challenge. And despite all of her own insecurities, Allison couldn't help but find Remy extremely interesting. She couldn't get her off her mind.

When Allison walked through the glass doors to exit the hospital, she mentally held her breath. She had no idea what to expect from Thirteen at all. As she was looking around for the younger woman, she briefly wondered whether this was all some sick joke being played on her, whether the brunette was just fooling around for a bet she made with some of their other colleagues. But when she saw Remy waiting at a nearby bench by the side, those traces of doubt had disappeared. As Allison tentatively walked over, she stood up and met her halfway.

"Hi."

"Hi..."

They looked at each other for a moment while butterflies fluttered wildly in their stomachs. Thirteen then decided to lead the way. She tilted her head to the direction of the parking lot, and the both of them began walking.

"Do you have your car here?" she asked.

"...No... I took the bus to work today..."

"Good. We'll take mine."

They walked at a slow, unhurried pace. It was almost forcing Allison to be relaxed, despite her current situation. Thirteen seemed to be deep in thought, with her hands in her pockets and her head down. The sudden and unusual bashfulness she was emitting was surprising to the older doctor.

After a while, Thirteen cleared her throat. "So I... I figured we needed to talk. And... I also wanted to apologize for the other day..."

Cameron looked up with her eyebrows raised, and listened for her to go on. "I know I shouldn't have. It was silly of me to have even proposed such a notion... I really shouldn't have cornered you like that." Remy struggled to put the things she wanted to say into words. Even though she had this feeling that Allison was somewhat attracted to her, she knew she should have behaved, or at least kept her hands to herself. That night, the brunette basically felt her up and got away with it. After much contemplation throughout the day, Remy realized that no matter how much she liked her, that was unacceptable. "So... I'm sorry."

The two of them walked on for a bit in silence. Cameron took a minute to process what she had heard. Doctor Hadley had just apologized for kissing her. Things were just getting more and more confusing. She was completely lost. What was she expected to say? Did Thirteen's apology mean that she regretted it happening? At that thought, Allison found herself feeling disappointed.

Remy watched her colleague carefully, trying to understand the very puzzled expression on her face. But she couldn't blame her – it was a lot to take in and a lot of complicated feelings to sort out. While Cameron remained silent, with a distinctly pensive look, the brunette began to feel increasingly insecure. Her mind began racing with all that the other woman could possibly thinking about, things that she would do, things that she would say...all the 'what if's and certain outcomes... Thirteen then went down this very disheartening train of thought in which she second-guessed all of her previous decisions and anxiously wondered whether Allison was really interested or not in the first place. The woman's lack of response had made her lose confidence in her actions.

"But I do like you," Remy blurted out quickly without a second thought. She had to clarify and make sure she knew. However, she had never planned to admit it to her like _that_. Remy blushed at how stupid that sounded. God, why was she such an idiot? She was always the smooth talker when it came to women. But right now, she found herself having trouble trying to make things come out the way she wanted them to.

At Thirteen's admission, Cameron felt her cheeks warm up too. Oh boy... What was she going to do? Remy had said her part, clearly, and now it was time for her to speak out hers. Problem was, she still wasn't entirely sure where she stood yet. This was such a spur-of-the-moment thing.

Was she attracted to Remy? Well... if she had to be _absolutely _honest with herself... then yes. Definitely. No question about it.

Did she like Remy as a person? Hmm. She had always respected her as a doctor and as one of House's high-standing employees. Over the course of babysitting Rachel that Saturday, she had actually learned to like her.

So what was the problem? There wasn't any part of her that wanted to reject Thirteen. She was only a little unsure. She probably would like more time and take things slow. But the fact was, she couldn't find it in her to say 'no'.

"Okay..." Allison said all of a sudden.

As soon as it registered, Remy froze in her tracks, making the other woman do the same.

"Okay?"

The blonde nodded slowly and looked up to meet her gaze. "Okay."

Thirteen watched her carefully with anticipation. "Does that mean you're okay with me liking you?"

Cameron bit the bottom of her lip and tried to suppress a blush. Was she okay with Remy liking her? Now that she seriously thought about it, she was. Allison couldn't help but smile a little. "I am," she realized. "I think I am."

Remy soon found herself smiling back too. "Umm... Okay. Good."

They walked on for a bit, before Remy stopped them again. "Does that mean... Does that mean that you might like me too?"

Allison became flustered and stared down at the pavement. She bit back a smile and nodded. And that was all the reassurance that Remy needed. "Good."

Both of their cheeks were pink when they looked up at each other. The grin on Thirteen's face made Allison increasingly willing to accept that she really did like the younger doctor, despite the fact that she was a woman.

"Um.. but..." She looked away shyly. "I think I'd like to take things slow..."

Remy nodded quickly. "It's okay. Anything you want."

Cameron blushed even more at those words and her obvious eagerness. It had been a while since she's been with someone who was so willing to focus their attention on her – to ask what _she_ wanted and to try to please _her._

The both of them continued walking to the parking lot. When they reached Thirteen's car, she made the effort to go open the door for her companion first. The contrast in her behavior in comparison to the other night was baffling, so much that Cameron was tempted to ask her about it. And so she did.

"Remy?"

"Yes?"

Allison noticed that when she called her name, the younger woman turned to face her, offering her full attention. Those bright blue eyes made the butterflies return.

"Uh... I want to ask you about the day we babysat Rachel..."

"What about it?"

"Well..." she began. "I don't really understand... I mean, you were being so difficult and indifferent. And then all of a sudden... I don't know..."

Remy looked away and placed her hands on the steering wheel, staring straight ahead. She took a deep breath and exhaled. "...I... Well... It was kinda hard for me to spend an entire day with you... I've always liked you... I just didn't want to act on it," she said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Allison watched her curiously, getting more and more fascinated by her character by the second. "Why not?"

"I didn't want to get hurt. And back then, you were with Chase..."

"But now I'm not."

Thirteen looked at her to see a shy smile on the older woman's face. She returned in kind. "No, you're not."

They exchanged an intense gaze of mutual interest, and Remy suddenly felt an invisible force pulling her in. She slowly leaned in, lips parted, eyes holding on to blonde's. When she was barely a breath away, Allison closed her eyes and leaned forward as well. But just as they were centimeters from making the much anticipated contact, Thirteen stopped herself. "I'm sorry..." She shook her head a little and leaned back over to the driver's side. "You wanted to take things slow."

They both frowned, feeling immensely unsatisfied. But they also knew that it was the right thing to do, and it would benefit them both if they took things step by step. "Maybe you should buy me dinner first... This time," Cameron teased, referencing the night they shared that passionate first kiss.

Remy rolled her eyes but chuckled in spite of herself. "Okay." She pulled out of the parking lot and drove down the road with a nice restaurant in mind.

* * *

When they arrived at their destination, both doctors exited the car, eager to fill their empty stomachs with food after a long day of work. Remy had picked a semi-crowded restaurant, and the waiter seated them at a private spot, which was perfect for the two of them. After placing their orders, they finally were able to concentrate on each other and nothing else.

Even in the dim lighting of the room, Remy looked stunning. Staring into her eyes, Cameron became all too aware of a familiar feeling returning. There was always that subtle nervousness whenever the brunette was around. Something was _there_, she just wasn't able to put a finger on it, and most likely had repressed it. But now that she's allowed herself to be truthful, to stop all the denial, she realized that her unwavering attraction and fascination with the woman was what made her feel so uneasy in the first place.

"So... How long have you...um...liked me?" Allison asked all of a sudden. She was curious and really wanted to know.

Remy was a little surprised at the question, but answered anyway. "Uh...well... I'm sure it was a while back..." She shrugged. "Probably when I was still auditioning for a place on the team."

"What? That was such a long time ago!"

Thirteen stared at her glass of water and blushed. "Well, I couldn't help it, okay?"

Allison's stomach did a somersault. The both of the grew silent for a while, as they sipped at their drinks and looked around the restaurant. Now that they were alone, they weren't exactly sure what to say to each other.

Before it got any more awkward, Remy spoke up. "I... It's been a while since I've...been on a date," she admitted.

Allison smiled a little. "Actually, me too..."

They looked up at each other and chuckled lightly. "When was your last one?" Thirteen asked, playing with her fork a little.

"Hmm... Half a year ago. With Chase. It was our last one, because I broke up with him later that night."

The brunette laughed, then quickly covered her mouth. "Oh, I meant – I'm so _sorry_," she teased.

Cameron only quirked an eyebrow at her. "When was _your_ last date?" Because she was observing her companion so intently, she managed to catch the brief flicker of panic across her features. _Interesting..._

"Oh... I haven't had one in so long, I don't even remember..." Remy lied. When she looked up to meet Allison's gaze, she saw that the blonde knew she was lying. No one said anything for a minute, before Thirteen finally caved.

"It was last month. There was no chemistry at all."

"Who was it?" Allison asked eagerly, smiling at her scrunched up face. Subconsciously, she began to feel more at ease sitting there, talking with Remy. Because she was now concentrated on the conversation itself, some of the previous nervousness had dissipated.

The brunette hesitated to respond. She wasn't sure how personal they should get on their first date... but at the same time, she knew she had been pushing people away for too long, so much that deflecting and refraining to answer altogether had become a habit. Maybe...maybe she should allow herself to connect with Cameron, even if it meant embarrassing herself. She took a deep breath.

"Foreman."

The ER attending almost choked on her water. "_What_?"

"He asked me out. At that time, I didn't really mind... I wasn't thinking..." The sound of Allison's laughter made her snap her head up though. "I know. That's why I hate to talk about it."

"Did you... Did you go out with him again after that?"

"_No_," Remy responded with emphasis, and a slightly disgusted expression on her face. "We talked about it, and we're okay with being colleagues."

Allison really couldn't stop grinning. When her smile grew wider and she began laughing again, Remy became further embarrassed. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to be truthful after all. "I know you find my terrible mistake in judgment and decision making hilarious, but please, spare me some dignity at least."

Cameron's chuckling died down a little and she gently shook her head. "I'm not laughing at you... I'm just laughing because you're _way_ out of Foreman's league."

Thirteen's ears perked. "You think?"

The blonde nodded keenly. "Definitely."

"And why would you say so?

"Oh come on, you're–" she stopped herself in time before the word 'hot' slipped out of her mouth.

Remy seemed to have an idea of what she was going to say though. She smirked. "What?"

Cameron fumbled with her words. "Um... You know... You just seem like you're out of his league..."

"Allison, are you trying to say that I'm too attractive for him?"

"...I... Well... I uh..."

Remy chuckled at her lack of response, but figured that she was only being timid. "I hope you're not out of mine though," she said thoughtfully. A brief pause. "Are you?"

"Of course not. I would think that... _you_ would be out of mine..."

The younger doctor laughed. "That's ridiculous." She thought for another moment. "How about we both agree that we're in each other's leagues."

A shy smile and a nod from Cameron. "Okay."

A waiter chose this moment to approach the table with their food.

"Alright, I'm glad that's settled." They smiled at each other as their dishes were served and continued the rest of the evening in light conversation.

* * *

"Phew! I'm so full!"

The two doctors walked out of the restaurant into the nighttime breeze of the outdoors. It wasn't too cold, which was nice. They both strolled down the sidewalk, Cameron waiting intently to see what Remy had in mind next, since they were noticeably not walking back to her car.

"You know, you didn't have to pay for dinner..."

"I asked you out," Thirteen stated as a matter of fact. However, the look on Allison's face showed that she wasn't on the same page. "You can pay next time."

Allison smiled. "Depends if I want a second date. I had to subtract some of your points when you knocked over the glass."

Remy blushed intensely at that recollection. She was reaching for the saltshaker when her arm accidentally tipped over her own glass. Luckily, there was only a bit of water left – or else it would've been a complete disaster, and Cameron might not want to see her ever again... though that last part might be a bit of an exaggeration.

"It was an accident..."

"I thought you'd be good at first impressions on your dates."

"I usually am."

"You must be losing your touch then."

"I was nervous. Can't blame me for liking you too much."

Allison bit her lip but failed to suppress a grin, so she looked away slightly to hide her face. Remy still saw it though. They continued walking down the street, neither bringing up the topic of where they were going. It didn't really matter.

"Allison?"

"Hm?"

"Can I... Can I hold your hand?"

Cameron looked up with some surprise. She never would have expected Thirteen to be the touchy kind of person. It was actually really adorable.

"Um, only if you're okay with it," Remy added quickly. "I mean, we can take things slow... Just... I'm not sure what you mind doing and what you don't–"

Allison silenced her rambling by grabbing her hand and entwining their fingers. The action surprised herself as much as it surprised Remy. But after a while, she decided that she liked it, and didn't mind that they were holding hands in public.

They walked on for a while, enjoying each other's presence and secretly relishing in the fact that there was skin contact, however minimal. Very soon, Cameron found herself walking with her date through a park. She thought of asking Thirteen what they were doing, but felt that the silence between them was too comfortable to break. Although the sparseness of street lamps made it kind of dark, she wasn't afraid. Eventually, the both of them stopped at the top of a hill. One glance at the sky was all it took for Thirteen's motives to be read.

"Wow."

"I know."

Living in a city, it had always been difficult to see stars at night, whether it was because of the light pollution, or the mere fact that people were too busy and consumed with their lives to even step back and try to notice. But now that they were far away from the hospital and the bustling streets, they found it easy to slip into brief isolation. The dark sky consuming them made it all the more poignant. It was breathtakingly beautiful.

They laid down on the grass, fingers still entwined. Allison smiled to herself at the thought of how cheesy and romantic Thirteen was. Never would she have expected this from someone like her. She couldn't complain though – she loved these kinds of outings. This was actually the first time someone had taken her stargazing for a date.

After remaining quiet for a while, Remy spoke up in a whisper. "It's nice that the moon rises later tonight, or else we won't be able to see much."

"There's never anything to see in the city..." Allison commented. "Sometimes there's one star, but that's about it."

"It's called Sirius, the dog star." Remy pointed up to the sky to indicate which one she was talking about. "It's the brightest star in the sky, and that's what we usually see." She chuckled slightly. "More like the only thing we _can_ see in the city."

"You know a lot about stars...?" Allison felt a light tingling sensation in the back of her hand as Remy was stroking it with her thumb.

"A little. I took an astronomy course in high-school."

"Softball and astronomy huh?" Thirteen was actually surprised that she remembered her mentioning that.

"Yep. I loved my astronomy class. My professor was the coolest man ever."

They laid in silence for a while. Allison was well aware of the fact that Remy had chosen to open up to her, and that this didn't happen very often. She moved so she was closer to the brunette, their shoulders touching. "Teach me."

Remy smiled. "Okay. Well, one of the most recognizable constellations is Orion, which is over there... See those three stars? That's called Orion's belt. And that's his bow..." It took a while for Allison to really visualize and connect the stars, but with Thirteen's patience, she eventually got it. "Where's the big dipper?"

"It's over there, see?" She followed Remy's index finger. "It's actually an asterism, which is only a small part of a constellation... The big dipper is part of Ursa Major."

"A bear?"

"Yep." The amount of visible stars in the night sky made their eyes wander ceaselessly. Remy was surprised that she remembered so many of the constellations. "I'm glad I paid attention in class," she remarked. "I always knew it would be useful for charming girls."

Allison laughed and hit her in the arm playfully.

"Is it working though?" Thirteen asked curiously.

Cameron pretended to think for a moment. "Hmm... I think it is."

"Good."

They stayed like that for another hour, talking about stars.

* * *

Soon it was getting pretty late, and they remembered that they still had work in the morning. It was a disappointing realization, but one that they couldn't ignore nonetheless. Remy stood up and stretched out her hands to help Allison do the same. When she pulled the blonde up, she went ahead and closed the distance between their bodies. Foreheads touched, lips parted. Allison stared up into her eyes with anticipation, holding her breath. When Remy moved, she fluttered her eyes shut. But when all she felt was a warm kiss on the cheek, she frowned. She pulled away to see a slight grin on Thirteen's face. "Come on, we should go."

The drive back to Cameron's apartment was way too short for their liking. After parking the car, Thirteen got out and walked her date to the front porch. Allison turned and looked up at the brunette. "Thank you for tonight. It was...one of the best dates I've ever had..." she admitted shyly.

"Let me know when you're free and we'll do it again sometime," Remy said. "That is...if you want to..."

Allison knew she was just teasing. "I want to."

The taller woman smiled genuinely. "That's good to hear."

They stood for a moment longer, looking into each other's eyes. "Alright, well goodnight Doctor Cameron," Thirteen then saluted, the smile on her face never wavering. She turned around to head back to her car. But as soon as she took one step down the stairs, she felt a hand grab onto her wrist. Grinning, she allowed herself to be slowly pulled back up the steps. Cameron knew that Thirteen was playing with her. She tried to shoot her an angry glare, but it ended up failing altogether. She pulled the woman close, with her hands on her shoulders.

"Were you really going to just walk away like that?"

"No." Remy smiled and slid her arms around the blonde's waist, diminishing the gap between them even more. "I knew you'd stop me before I did."

"What if I didn't?"

"Then you don't get a goodnight kiss."

They stood like that for a while, breathing the same air. Cameron studied the look on Thirteen's face for a moment and finally saw that she wouldn't be the one to initiate the kiss. She wanted _her_ to do it. Allison swallowed nervously and hesitated, but eventually had to give in to the urge. Slowly, very slowly, she tilted her head and brushed her lips against Remy's. At this, the brunette gladly reciprocated, and was eager to deepen it as well. Both of them had been practically waiting all night for this moment. Allison felt as if she never wanted to let go.

Eventually, it was a passing car that interrupted their kiss. Suddenly, they realized that were so absorbed, they had practically been making out. Remy shot the blonde a sheepish grin before releasing her grip around her waist and taking a step back. "So... I'll see you tomorrow."

Allison was still slightly dazed, and it took a while before she was able to compose a reply. "Um... Yeah. Tomorrow..."

Remy chuckled a bit, then looked at the blonde fondly. She leaned in and placed one last chaste kiss on her lips. "Goodnight."

"...Goodnight..."

With flushed cheeks and a thumping heart, Allison watched her drive away.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Hey... I was looking for you."

Allison entered the Diagnostics office to find Remy alone at the table, with stacks and stacks of folders sprawled over the glass surface. It was late in the afternoon. The other guys in the team were allowed to leave for the rest of the day, while their boss was off somewhere, probably in Cuddy's office.

Thirteen stretched her arms above her head. "Hi..." she mumbled, eyes falling back to the amount of paperwork she had to finish.

"House?" Cameron asked with sympathy. Remy nodded wearily.

It had been over a week since their date, and over a week since House found his new source of entertainment at the hospital – seeing how far he could push his little bisexual duckling to do his work by dangling his cellphone over her head. It was painful for Remy, but she had no choice because Allison wanted to take things slow and wasn't anywhere near ready to be outed yet, especially not at the hospital.

The blonde doctor sighed and took a seat beside Thirteen. Without another word, she put on her reading glasses and began to work beside her.

"What are you doing...?"

"Helping."

"Why?"

"Well, it's my fault that he's making you do all this charting."

"No it's not," she denied, even though they knew that it was partially true. "It's okay, you don't have to do this." Remy placed a hand over Allison's to stop her.

"But I'm the reason why he's been throwing so much work at you lately... It's not fair..."

"Don't you have the entire ER to look after?"

"It's been a slow day," she shrugged off her job, grabbing a pen from her pocket. "I'd much rather come here and help – it's the least I could do," Allison offered sincerely. Thirteen watched her as she read a file with furrowed browns. She chuckled a bit and took a brief glance around to make sure the coast was clear before leaning in and giving her a quick peck on the cheek.

"Thanks."

They smiled at each other with flushed cheeks before continuing to work. There was an occasional graze here...a caress of the arm there when they passed the files around...subtle glances at each other... At one point, Remy decided to take a short break and was just sitting there idly while staring at Cameron, watching her work.

"What?" Allison asked without looking up from her folder.

When she got no response, her eyes snapped up. Thirteen surprised her by taking the file, setting it down, and leaning in to invade her personal space. "You look good today," the brunette whispered, twirling a lock of wavy blonde hair with her fingers. She loved it when she had her hair down.

Allison blushed profusely. She has yet to get used to that flustered feeling resulting every time from Remy's proximity. "Thanks... You do too..." she murmured in reply, her eyes traveling down and snapping up again when she realized what she was doing. Remy only smiled wider, before leaning in even more to plant a soft kiss on her lips. Cameron was very hesitant at first, mentally debating on whether she should push her away in order to refrain from being caught. Understanding her timidity, Remy pulled away shortly.

Allison sighed when they broke apart, feeling very lightheaded. It was ridiculous how much Thirteen affected her, now that she had given in. Cameron cautiously looked out into the hallway and watched a couple of people walk by, clearly oblivious to the two doctors in the Diagnostics room. She then turned back to the younger doctor, who was looking back at her questioningly. Failing to resist the urge, Cameron gave her another chaste kiss on the cheek. The huge grin on Remy's face gave her a warm feeling all over. When the brunette leaned in again though, Allison chuckled and moved away. "Let's finish our work first, Rem."

Thirteen pouted. "How about let's not, _Cam._"

Allison tried to ignore Remy as she tugged at her arm. "Look, we're almost done. Only a few more to go."

"Just one more kiss. For motivation."

The blonde looked up immediately at the proposition. She nervously looked outside through the glass and saw that the hallway happened to be empty at the moment. "Just a quick one," Allison clarified.

"Okay." Thirteen nodded keenly with a smile. She closed the distance between them, giving the blonde a very purposeful kiss on the lips. It went on for a bit more than a couple of seconds like they had planned. Allison opened her eyes and was going to start leaning away, when out of the corner of her eye, she noticed someone approaching the office. Panicking, she almost shoved Thirteen away. When the both of them looked up, they saw Cuddy walk through the door.

"Doctor Cuddy..." they greeted in an awkward tone, all while blushing furiously. Cameron was practically begging on the inside for her boss not to have seen them. However, the somewhat surprised look on the dean's face indicated otherwise.

"Um... hello ladies..." she spoke with her eyebrows slightly raised. The knowing look she sported made the other two doctors blush even more as they were subtly inching away from each other. Cameron had to look away while Thirteen strained to put on a neutral face.

"So..." Cuddy continued slowly, trying not to let the discovery shock her too much. House _had_ been ecstatically telling her about it, but she thought it was only him jumping to conclusions and being a dick. At the back of her mind, she also remembered her boyfriend saying something along the lines of 'catching Thirteen all over Cameron' when she left her office to head up to Diagnostics. She had to admit, though not exactly spot on, he was pretty close.

"I actually came to relieve you of your paperwork. House will do it himself," she announced decidedly. No matter what, she was going to make him do it, despite recalling how much he whined and complained about having to to something he didn't give a damn about. Even if he was Thirteen's boss though, he was in no position to throw all the work on one single employee, and a woman at that. In other places, it could potentially be considered sexual discrimination. In the world of PPTH, they just had to deal with his foolishness and work around it.

Remy frowned a little. "Well, we're practically done. We did most of them already..."

"I'm sorry. If I had known earlier, I would have come to stop you... I came up as soon as House let it slip." The woman rolled her eyes exasperatedly at that recollection.

"Well, I guess we'll leave the rest for him to do... And hope that he'll actually do them," Thirteen said, pushing the files aside.

"Alright, thanks ladies." Cuddy turned around and began to head out, when a sudden thought stopped her in the middle of her tracks. "Oh! One more thing."

Cameron and Thirteen exchanged a glance before looking up at the dean. "Are you two free this weekend?" The two women widened their eyes in realization.

"It's just for half of the day. I have a couple of errands to run on Saturday and I can't find anyone else who's available... Rachel said she loved having you two over," Cuddy smiled at them. Allison and Remy, however, didn't seem too enthusiastic. Thirteen caught the blonde's gaze and raised an eyebrow to ask what she thought. Cameron only shrugged indifferently.

"We'll think about it."

Cuddy sighed and clasped her hands together. "Please. It's only for the afternoon. It would be a huge favor to me."

Cameron and Thirteen looked at each other uneasily. Although they weren't too keen on facing the hyperactive child again, this was their boss and they felt that getting on her good side would benefit them in the future. They both recounted the last time they babysat the girl. This time it would only be half of the day. Perhaps it wouldn't be _too_ bad...

"I guess we could..." Allison spoke up after a moment.

Cuddy smiled at them gratefully. "Thank you so much! I'll let you know when to come over on Saturday."

When she turned to leave though, Thirteen stopped her. "Wait, can I leave for the rest of today, Doctor Cuddy?"

The dean chuckled. "Yes, of course Remy. You may leave." She reached to open the glass door, but was promptly stopped again.

"Can I take the rest of the day off too?"

Both Thirteen and Cuddy looked back at Cameron with a bit of surprise. Remy asking to leave was completely understandable – House's team didn't have a case to work on. But Cameron? The head of the hospital's ER department?

Allison blushed a little as the other two women in the room looked at her curiously. She didn't even think before asking the question. All she wanted to do was to go wherever Remy was going at the moment. It didn't even occur to her that she actually had a job.

"Um... the ER has been slow today... I don't think they really need me down there... I was just wondering..."

Thirteen looked away and covered her mouth, trying subtly not to laugh. Cuddy eyed the two of them and thought carefully. Cameron _did_ agree to babysit Rachel again... '_I guess I could let them off the hook this one time_...'

"Well, it's all up to you Cameron. If you think the state of the ER is empty enough to allow less supervision, then you can go." She skillfully threw the task of deciding back at her, knowing fully well that Cameron was responsible enough to make ethical choices herself. She trusted her to do whatever she wished. "Thanks again ladies!"

When the dean finally left, Thirteen turned to face the blonde with a wide grin on her face.

"Shut up..."

"I didn't even say anything!" Remy protested.

"Your look said it all."

Thirteen only laughed and stood up, pulling Allison along. "Come on, I'm hungry. Let's go grab lunch." She looked back to see the older doctor with a worried expression on her face.

"Should I leave?"

"Of course! Cuddy said yes."

"Well, not really... What if something goes wrong and they mess up because I'm not there?"

Remy sighed and placed her hands on Allison's shoulders. "You said yourself that it was a slow day. The ER staff is pretty big. I'm sure they'll be fine." She then tugged at her sleeve a little. "Let's go."

With the puppy eyes that Thirteen was sending her, Cameron couldn't find it in her to resist. She barely made any effort to put up a fight. "Well... Alright... I have to stop by my office first though."

"Meet you outside?"

"Okay."

* * *

After letting her staff know that she would be leaving for the day (but also telling them to call her if anything gets out of hand), Allison changed and got her things ready before heading out. It was weird. She rarely put her relationships before work, especially when the ER is so demanding all the time. But lately, Remy seemed to be the only person she wanted to please.

She stepped out of the hospital and walked casually over to Thirteen, who was waiting by a bench.

"Hi."

"Hi."

Together, they walked through the parking lot to search for the brunette's car. As soon as they were far enough from the hospital, away from being noticed by anyone they might know, Remy instantly slipped her hand in Allison's and entwined their fingers.

"So Saturday..." the taller woman began.

Cameron laughed lightly at the choice of topic. "It's just for half of the day. It won't be too bad."

"You _do_ know that by agreeing to watch the kid again, we have officially named ourselves Rachel's babysitters, don't you?"

"No we haven't. We're just doing our boss a favor."

"Along with many more favors to come... in the form of terror," Thirteen muttered under her breath. The comment provoked a playful slap in the arm.

"I'm telling you, it won't be that bad," Cameron assured.

"I dunno. Last time was pretty exhausting."

"I think Rachel likes us. Maybe she'll behave better this time."

"Or maybe she'll give us hell." They stopped in front of Thirteen's car.

"Oh come on. Whatever happens it won't be as bad, because last time, _two_ of you were giving me hell." Remy smirked and narrowed her eyes. She gently guided Cameron so that the blonde was leaning against the door of the car, while she trapped her in between.

"What makes you think I'll be nicer this time?"

Allison grew slightly nervous again as Remy leaned her body against hers, their faces only inches away. It was crazy how much her body reacted to something as simple as the brunette's presence. With her standing so close right now, she felt her knees go weak. The ER attending slowly reached a hand up and began playing with Thirteen's suspenders.

"I just have this feeling..."

Two pairs of bright blue eyes met, then they both leaned in and kissed. Remy moved her lips against Allison's languidly as she felt arms wrap around her neck. She still found it hard to believe that she was here kissing Doctor Cameron, the 'straight' blonde that she had pined after for so long. It vaguely registered in her mind that had she not stayed to babysit Rachel that weekend, they would not have gotten together at all... It was a distressing thought. Thank god she stayed.

When they broke apart, they smiled at each other shyly. For a couple who wanted to take things slow, they sure were moving pretty fast. But they couldn't help feeling extremely attracted to one another.

Unable to stand there idly when she was still so close to Cameron, Remy moved in and placed another quick kiss on her lips. They stared at each other fondly, completely forgetting for a moment where they were.

That is... until they were rudely interrupted by someone passing by.

"Aha!" a familiar voice shouted.

Their heads snapped to the side in absolute horror to find an exultant House standing a few feet away.

"_I knew it._"

* * *

- End -

So that's it! Hope you enjoyed the story. It was fun. Thank you for reading and reviewing! :)  
Not to worry though. This does not mark the end of my Camteen writing career. (if you could call it a career...)

[On the side note, I don't know how much you're interested in Camteen statistics, but if you are: www(dot)fanpop(dot)com/fans/CrazyRikFan/gallery/image/2238892/camteen-statistics ]

I know, I'm such a dork. D8


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